The International Whaling Commission (IWC) sounded a warning on Tuesday over the effects of a vast oil and gas project on the ”critically endangered” western grey whale in the Russian Far East, only 100 of which are known to exist.
The 57-member body adopted a resolution that ”strongly recommends” that subsidiaries of oil giants Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell and BP halt seismic exploration activity to avoid disturbing the whales.
Frenetic exploration activity is taking place in the grey whales’ feeding ground in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
The resolution, adopted by consensus at the IWC’s annual meeting in Sorrento, Italy, is based on a detailed report by its scientific committee.
The report warned that a potential ”catastrophic oil spill” could wipe out the world’s last remaining examples of the species.
Seismic activity should stop ”in situations when displacement of whales could have significant demographic consequences”, the scientists recommended.
The grey whale is one of the largest ocean mammals, measuring up to 15m in length and weighing 30 tons.
”It is a matter of absolute urgency that measures be taken to protect this population and its habitat off Sakhalin Island,” said the resolution, which noted that only 23 reproductive females survive in the herd.
It also strongly recommended that nearby states develop or expand national monitoring and research programmes on western grey whales.
”The Sakhalin oil development clearly poses a serious threat to its future survival,” warned the scientists in their report. ”Exxon and Shell have both postponed construction plans until summer 2005, but BP will drill a well this summer.”
The WWF called on Royal Dutch Shell to suspend its plans to build an offshore drilling platform and install a seabed pipeline near Sakhalin, pending a full independent review.
The company has said it will not reconsider the project’s design and has offered to spend $5-million dollars on monitoring and research.
”This is a wake-up call for Shell to pay proper attention to the environment when planning major oil projects,” said Susan Lieberman, director of the WWF’s global species programme. ”The potential for a catastrophic spill from Shell’s oil project poses an unacceptable risk to this highly endangered whale population.”
According to the IWC scientists, the project runs right through the single known coastal feeding habitat — a strip of sea about 60km long and 5km wide — used by females and calves.
The feeding ground ”faces an obvious and immediate threat from industrial activities including noise, vessel traffic and the potential for a catastrophic oil spill”.
The IWC’s scientific committee has been reviewing research on the western grey whale since 1995.
The species was listed as ”critically endangered” in 2000 by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. — Sapa-AFP
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