The Obama administration today gave the green light to oil and gas
exploration off the Atlantic Coast, including approval from the
Department of the Interior to allow seismic surveys to blast noisy
airguns known to injure and harm marine mammals.
“The Atlantic Ocean should be off limits to oil and gas drilling.
It’s habitat that should be protected for endangered right whales and
other wildlife, but instead the government is planning to let oil
companies blast airguns, drill, and probably spill oil,” said Miyoko
Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s
an ugly turn of events.”
Seismic exploration surveys use arrays of high-powered air guns to
search for oil and generate the loudest human sounds in the ocean short
of explosives. The blasts, which can reach more than 250 decibels, can
cause hearing loss in marine mammals, disturb essential behaviors such
as feeding and breeding over vast distances, mask communications between
individual whales and dolphins, and reduce catch rates of commercial
fish.
“Whales use sound in the ocean to communicate, find food and
reproduce. Blasting loud airguns into their environment to look for oil
not only interferes with these essential behaviors but can deafen and
even kill them,” said Sakashita.
Now the Atlantic Ocean is open for business. According to the
decision document, the Department will now accept permit applications
for seismic surveys in federal waters from Delaware Bay to Cape
Canaveral.
from here
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