Oil exploration stokes fears for endangered whale

A whale population once thought extinct faces a fresh challenge to its survival as oil companies step up exploration efforts in its main feeding ground off Siberia, delegates to the world's top whaling body said.

Scientists say between 130 and 160 Western grey whales exist today compared to tens of thousands before the era of industrial whaling. The mothers rely on a strip of shallow water to the east of Russia's Sakhalin island (see map) to teach their calves to feed.

Russian oil major Rosneft plans seismic surveys there in coming months, said Justin Cooke of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a member of the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) Scientific Committee.

The surveys involve blasting sound at the sea bed to map its geology and have grown in number since the end of the Cold War brought Western offshore foraging technology to the area.

"We might lose a year's production of calves and even one year's loss is potentially serious in terms of survival of the population," Cooke said at the IWC's annual meeting in Morocco.

Cooke said grey whales had left the feeding area in 2008 when pile driving began for an Exxon Mobil oil facility, although there was no definite proof of cause and effect.

A spokesman for Rosneft said the work of energy companies in Sakhalin is approved by Russia's Natural Resources Ministry.

"They make sure our work does not disturb the whales or any other marine life in the area. As long as we have their permission, we will continue," the spokesman said.

He said oil and gas companies are the main financial contributors to research on grey whales and that organizations can afford to conduct their research thanks to them.

Cooke said other companies including Sakhalin Energy, a unit of Russia's Gazprom, had adjusted the timing and conditions of seismic surveys to minimize disruption to whales.

The IWC scientific committee recommended that Rosneft delay until next year so it could begin its surveys before most of the whales arrive. But according to Russian officials, contract obligations make it hard for Rosneft to change its exploration timetable.

"In any case, it is not going to be good for these animals," said Russian IWC Commissioner Valentin Ilyashenko.

Little is known about the Western grey whale, and its breeding ground remains unknown. Its eastern cousin migrates further than any other whale, from Alaska to Mexico.

Some scientists thought the Western grey was extinct in the 1970s. Soviet scientists sighted some in the 1980s but the West was ignorant of their existence until the Cold War ended.

Source:
Reuters, "Oil exploration stokes fears for endangered whale", accessed June 26, 2010