The Threat of Offshore Seismic Blasts Provokes Opposition

Expanding seismic airgun testing to the Atlantic Ocean is the first step towards deepwater oil drilling, which endangers marine life and our beaches.

"10 Reasons to Prevent Seismic Airguns" - oceana.org

(WASHINGTON DC) - Imagine that you live next to a construction zone, where loud explosives occur every ten seconds, for days to weeks on end. Next year at this time, thousands of marine animals in the Atlantic Ocean could be living this nightmare, due to a proposal that is being considered by the U.S. Department of the Interior to allow seismic airgun testing in an area spanning from Florida to Delaware. The airguns, which are towed behind ships and generate underwater blasts of noise designed to search for offshore oil and gas, have 100,000 times more intensity than a jet engine. These repeated blasts could cause marine life along the entire East Coast to abandon their habitats, become stranded on beaches, or go temporarily or permanently deaf. Many of these same marine species depend on their hearing in order to feed, navigate and care for their young.

These airguns would have devastating consequences for critically endangered species, like the North Atlantic right whale, of which there are only 500 left in the world. The U.S. government itself estimates that seismic testing along the East Coast will injure and possibly kill 138,000 whales and dolphins, nine of which are right whales. The proposed testing and the potential for future drilling disasters also threatens commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as tourism and coastal recreation, putting as many as 730,000 jobs at risk in the blast zone alone.

Seismic airguns could be the East Coast’s next big threat. Expanding seismic airgun testing to the Atlantic Ocean is the first step towards deepwater oil drilling, which puts marine life and our beaches in harm’s way from accidents and oil spills. And with minimal oil reserves, and drilling at least five years away, seismic airgun testing off the East Coast is an unnecessary and dangerous risk to everyone who depends on healthy oceans. Offshore drilling in the Atlantic won’t lower gas prices by even a penny per gallon. It will only lead to more oil spill disasters and more dependence on fossil fuels. If the U.S. truly wants to become energy independent we need to focus on developing cleaner energy sources like offshore wind.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan coalition containing 50 members of both the House and the Senate sent letters urging President Obama and the Secretary of the Interior not to allow seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic Ocean. The Obama administration should instead phase out the use of airguns in U.S. waters as well as deny all current proposals that incorporate their use. The health of our marine ecosystems, and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods, depend on it.

Matthew Huelsenbeck, marine scientist at Oceana, the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans. www.oceana.org

Special thanks to Dustin Cranor, Communications Director, U.S. Campaigns