A Texas A&M Galveston study provides evidence that undersea oil and gas exploration has not seriously altered western gray whales’ living and feeding behaviors in the waters around Northern Russia’s Sakhalin Island, though the point is still debated by conservationists.
Dr. Bernd Wursig, a professor of marine biology at Texas A&M at Galveston, has studied a population of western gray whales over five years, and concluded that oil and gas drilling does not affect the highly endangered species.
“The main purpose was to find the number and habitat usage of western gray whales,” Wursig said.
With a limited population of surviving whales, people in the oil and gas industry and environmental groups are concerned about the survival of western gray whales.
These whales are a very endangered species, with only around one hundred left in the world. Disturbing this fragile environment is a concern, but day-to-day behavioral patterns of the whales are negligibly affected by oil and gas operations, Wursig said.
“(The whales) are affected to a degree, but they continue to use that habitat (where oil and gas exploration is ongoing,,” he said.
The data supporting his contention — the idea that drilling operations and the world’s most endangered whale species can peacefully co-exist — was collected using surveying instruments and global positioning systems.
Such information can provide insight into the behavioral patterns of whales of both a survival and social nature. The surveying techniques Wursig and his group used found specific information on whales’ depth, distance from shore, and spacing from each other, he said.
By modeling the whales’ positions in three dimensions, researchers can determine if feeding habits are being disrupted by oil operations.
A photographic record of whales can help determine their lifespan, since each whale has its own unique markings, which can be used to identify them over time.
“We go out on a Zodiac inflatable boat to photo-identify each whale. A photo record can say something about longevity,” Wursig said.
Whales may also be tracked through their DNA. Samples are taken using a harpoon resembling a crossbow, which are then biopsied and recorded.
But Richard Charter, a marine conservation advocate with the Oceans Program of the Environmental Defense Organization said oil operations are hazardous to whale populations, despite the fact that their feeding and behavioral patterns have not changed.
“There has been an ongoing controversy about the effects of seismic survey activities on whale populations,” he said.
The instruments used to conduct seafloor oil deposit surveys are believed by some to be harmful to whales, also.
Oil exploration uses high frequency sound waves directed at the ocean floor to determine the size of oil and gas deposits under the ocean. Seismic impulses such as these have been linked to whales found beached near oil exploration sites, Charter said.
According to an article by the Los Angeles Times, seismic research conducted by the National Science Foundation is being held responsible for the deaths of two beached whales.
Wursig said his reasearch has yet to address the effects of seismic survey techniques on whales.
Wursig’s research has been funded in large part by the oil industry.
“The major ones have been Exxon and S.E.I.C,” Wursig said.
Though Dr. Wursig’s research shows that the day-to-day operations of offshore platforms are not altering the behavior of the western gray whales, it remains to be seen whether the seismic activity portion of oil exploration is harmful to the whales.
Whale behaviors unaffected by oil drilling
February 27, 2003
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