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Oceana released a new report today showing that marine life and coastal economies along the Atlantic Ocean are threatened by seismic airguns used in testing for offshore oil and gas. The United States government itself estimates that the use of seismic airguns along the East Coast – an area twice the size of California, stretching from Delaware to Florida – will injure and possibly kill 138,500 whales and dolphins, and disturb necessary activities for millions more.
“Instead of learning from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster three years ago, President Obama is now considering taking the first steps to expand our dangerous dependence on fossil fuels to the Atlantic Ocean, an area that has been protected from drilling for more than 30 years,” said Jacqueline Savitz, deputy vice president for U.S. campaigns at Oceana. “With minimal oil reserves there, and drilling at least five years off, seismic testing is an unnecessary insult to whales, dolphins and other marine animals. Drilling in the Atlantic won’t lower gas prices; it will instead lead to more oil disasters and more dependence on fossil fuels. Focusing on developing cleaner energy sources would be more strategic for our country and more sustainable for our oceans.”
During this testing process, a vessel tows one or more seismic airguns, which shoot extremely loud blasts of compressed air through the ocean and miles under the seafloor every ten seconds, 24 hours a day, for days to weeks on end. The airguns are 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine and can disturb the vital behaviors of fish, dolphins, whales and sea turtles, causing temporary and permanent hearing loss, driving animals from their homes, disrupting mating and causing animals to become stranded on beaches. Some of these disruptions can lead to death, and for populations that are already struggling, this could have devastating consequences. Airguns and offshore drilling also threaten commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as tourism and coastal recreation, putting more than 730,000 jobs at risk in the blast zone alone.
Originally posted by luciddream
I wish this thread would get some attention but.. with the whole bombing discussion....
Originally posted by luciddream
I wish this thread would get some attention but.. with the whole bombing discussion....
Originally posted by Mamatus
We are allowing our politicians and corporations to kill much of nature. Changes are happening fast, I can't believe what I have seen in just 30 years of paying attention. When there is little to nothing alive in the oceans that is edible the world will go to war for food resources.
There may come a time in my life I would love to eat a whale. Although personally, I find it abhorrent to eat a critter that is smarter than us. I think I would rather eat stupid people, should taste a lot lot like pork being the pigs we are.
I am embarrassed to be human.
Originally posted by Rodinus
Originally posted by luciddream
I wish this thread would get some attention but.. with the whole bombing discussion....
It will get attention Lucid, but in order to do so we alo need to flag this thread.
Here we go again with the famous recipie : Man+petrol+money = Screw the world and everything on it...
It sickens and saddens me to see these companies doing this when there are alternative methods that "COULD" be used!
Kindest respects
Rodinus