Statoil has seen a lot of Greenpeace this week but so far its staying schtum in response to New Zealanders calling on it to ‘go home’.
However, that deafening silence does not extend to the deep waters off the Northland coast right at the moment.
Statoil has started its search for oil, about 120 west of Cape Reinga, using noisy seismic testing. Evidence from marine scientists around the world suggests that seismic testing is bad for whales and dolphins.
Seismic testing is the first step of oil exploration. Before the oil rigs even arrive, before the drills go in the seabed, companies must first determine where to find the oil, if there is any. The process is done from a ship firing off repeated sound blasts day and night sometimes over weeks or months. The blasts, created by underwater cannons, generate a pressure wave that penetrates the seafloor and the reflected sound waves are then recorded by on an array of sensors dragged on long cables after the ship.
This ocean blasting will expose whales and dolphins to threats that have not been scientifically researched for New Zealand’s marine mammals. T
These underwater blasts can occur every few seconds for weeks and months and over vast areas of ocean. What are the impacts of this kind of relentless noise pollution on marine mammal behaviour including feeding, nursing and mating?
In extreme cases, it could cause physical damage or severe disorientation that could lead to drowning or strandings and death. A 2007 report shows the lethal range underwater for a large seismic array at seven metres and injury range of 53 metres. That report was produced for the UK
Department of Trade and Industry. No such report was requested by our own government before it started issuing permits to big oil companies to come here.
So, while our activists were boarding up Statoil’s new Wellington office on Wednesday, the Greenpeace boat SV Vega sailed into the Reinga Basin seismic testing area with two independent scientists aboard. They are working under the guidance of marine mammal biologist Liz Slooten to monitor the impacts of the seismic testing on marine mammals off the Northland coast. It will take a while for them to analyse their results but we hope they’ll be able to blog about the early stages of the project here next week.
Meanwhile they’re staying a safe distance from the ship doing the seismic testing but Statoil will be well aware that the monitoring crew are watching and listening closely.
At the same time Statoil will be hearing the resistance to it deep sea oil plans getting louder and louder from New Zealanders. It has now received more than 19,000 emails from Kiwis urging it to pull out and go home. You can help make some noise by adding your support here.