Seismic testing threatens marine life

The Canadian Government has just released dangerously weak draft regulations on seismic testing for offshore oil and gas

For marine mammals, sound is often more important than sight. Unfortunately, oil companies are increasingly relying on this sense as well. In trying to locate potential oil reserves beneath the ocean floor, oil companies have a standard procedure: they conduct extensive acoustic surveys (seismic testing) using tens of thousands of extremely high-volume air gun blasts that reach several kilometers into the earth’s crust. Conducted continuously over many weeks, these acoustic surveys risk seriously harming whales, dolphins and other marine species that depend on sound for their survival.

In the face of international scientific evidence and concern, the Canadian Government has just released a very weak ‘Statement of Canadian Practice on Seismic Noise in the Marine Environment’. The proposed regulations in this document ignore current science, violate the precautionary approach of our Oceans Act, and will put the health of marine life at serious risk.

Please take action to protect our Pacific coast from seismic testing!

Seismic testing is an acoustic surveying technique used to locate offshore oil reserves and requires shooting high-pressure sound waves into the ocean. A typical array of air guns consists of between 15 to 35 guns that shoot off high intensity explosive sound waves every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day for weeks or months at a time. These sound waves are directed at the seabed and bounce back at varying speeds and intensities. The process gives industry information regarding rock formation and the most likely location of oil.

The extreme pressure of these sound waves, however, also harms marine life.

Impacts from seismic testing may include destruction of eggs and larvae, and damage to fish with swim bladders, such as rockfish. Studies have found that seismic testing disrupts traditional migratory paths of marine mammals and causes some species of fish to leave an area. In some cases, fish catches have been reduced by at least 50%. This is of particular concern on the coast of British Columbia because 50% of fish caught in BC live in or migrate through the Hecate Strait.

According to Dr. Chris Clarke, Director of the Bioacoustics Research Program at Cornell University, seismic testing is the modern form of exploratory dynamite, and the air guns “represent the most severe acoustic insult to the marine environment that [he] can imagine, short of naval warfare”.

The best protection for the coast of BC is to maintain the moratorium on offshore oil and gas. Weak regulations, such as outlined in the recent Statement of Canadian Practice, serves the oil industry and does not ensure a healthy ocean. We must call on the federal government to publicly announce there will be no exploration or extraction of offshore oil and gas on Canada’s Pacific coast. Our marine life depends on it.

Please send your comments on these dangerous draft regulations.

To read the Statement of Canadian Practice on Seismic Noise, click here. To read other reports on offshore oil and gas visit Living Oceans’ library.

To learn more about Oil Free Coast - an alliance of 102 groups that supports the moratorium on offshore oil and gas, and to add your voice of support please visit www.oilfreecoast.org

Take action to protect Canada’s Pacific coast from seismic testing!

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Make a financial contribution to marine protection.

Is Canada up for the climate change challenge?

On February 16th, 2005 our commitment to the Kyoto Protocol became legally binding. But this month we learned that the federal government is not willing to regulate car manufacturers – one of the sectors where greenhouse gas emissions have increased in Canada. The government has decided on a voluntary agreement instead, which will very likely lead to the vehicle industry missing emissions targets with no repercussions.

Will our government continue to cave into industry and business interest, or will they do what is needed to meet Canada 's legal obligations under the international protocol?

At least 1,800 people have sent a strong message to the Canadian Government by asking them to take the 240 Million Tonne Challenge. Our government, just like every Canadian citizen, must step up to the climate change challenge, and get serious about taking action to reduce emissions now. If you haven't asked Canada to take the 240 Million Tonne Challenge yet, please click here.

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