Airgun testing in search for oil and gas could harm hundreds of mammals such as dolphins and whales off the Atlantic coast

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Trump administration is to allow marine creatures such as whales and dolphins to be harmed by companies as they search for potential oil and gas reserves off the Atlantic coast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) has granted five operators permission to “incidentally but not intentionally harass marine mammals” while conducting surveys for fossil fuels in the seabed.

Why rising seas will force coastal residents to move – or spend Read more

The testing will involve the use of seismic air guns which fire continuous blasts to ascertain whether deposits of oil and gas are present. This procedure is a precursor to what could be the first drilling in federal waters off the US eastern seaboard in decades.

By the federal government’s own estimates, airgun testing could harm hundreds of thousands of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales. Of particular concern is the endangered North Atlantic right whale, with only around 440 individuals left, including less than 100 breeding females.

Scientists have warned that the extreme disruption caused by airguns can harm a wide range of aquatic life, including sea turtles, fish and zooplankton, a critical foundational plank of the ocean food web.

Under the authorizations issued by Noaa, operators will have to listen and watch for marine life while testing and shut down activity if groups of sensitive species are observed. Harm deemed unintentional, however, will not incur any penalty.

Noise from the airgun blasts can travel to 2,500 miles according to some studies and cause major problems for certain animals as they try to navigate or breed.

Environmental groups, which successfully allied with local communities to push back against plans for Atlantic drilling under the Obama administration, said they will fight the new push for oil and gas in the region.

“Seismic airgun surveys pose a dual threat to the biologically rich waters off the Atlantic coast,” said Steve Mashuda, managing attorney for oceans at Earthjustice.

“Their continuous blasts can injure and deafen whales, dolphins and other marine life, and they are the sonic harbingers of even greater risks associated with eventual offshore oil and gas drilling. We are looking at all available tools to fight this unlawful action.”

Seismic airgun testing involves blasting extremely loud noises in pulses, every 10 to 12 seconds, non-stop for weeks or even months at a time. This testing has been earmarked for an area of ocean stretching from New Jersey to Florida.

Douglas Nowacek, a Duke University expert on the impact of noise on ocean life, has testified to Congress that the sounds, which can reach 260 decibels, are akin to being at “the epicenter of a grenade blast and would easily cause the rupture of the human eardrum”.

“Many ocean animals, particularly marine mammals such as whales, rely for their very existence on their ability to use sound,” Nowacek told the Natural Resources committee. “For these animals, sound is central to their ability to find food, to locate other animals, to avoid predators, to reproduce and thus, to survive.”

Under the Obama administration, offshore drilling wasn’t allowed within 50 miles of the Atlantic coast. But the Trump administration has reduced this to three miles, as part of its “energy dominance” agenda whereby vast swathes of ocean and land has been opened up for drilling.

This approach has helped create an unusual coalition of businesses, environmentalists and politicians from both major parties in opposition. Governors of states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and New York have opposed offshore drilling, backed by thousands of tourism and fishing businesses.

“President Trump is essentially giving these companies permission to harass, harm and possibly even kill marine life, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale – all in the pursuit of dirty and dangerous offshore oil,” said Diane Hoskins, campaign director at Oceana, an ocean conservation group.

“This is the first step toward offshore drilling in the Atlantic, and we’re going to make sure coastal communities know what’s happening and fight this.”