Posted on 17 January
2011 - Sakhalin Energy Investment Company
– part owned by Shell – has announced plans
to build a major oil platform near crucial
feeding habitat of the Western North Pacific
gray whale population.
Only around 130 whales
of the critically endangered Western population
exist today, and their primary feeding habitat
– off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far
East – is already besieged by multiple oil
and gas exploration and development projects.
The construction and
operation of an additional off-shore platform
could have numerous negative impacts on
the whales, potentially disrupting feeding
behaviours and increasing the chance of
fatal ship strikes. Also, a third platform
heightens the risk of an environmentally
catastrophic oil spill in this sensitive
habitat.
“Just around 30 female
western gray whales of breeding age remain
– the population is already on the brink
of disappearing forever,” said Aleksey Knizhnikov,
Oil & Gas Environmental Policy Officer
for WWF-Russia.
“The loss of even a
few breeding females could mean the end
for the population.”
Gray whales occur on
both sides of the Pacific Ocean. However
IUCN classes the critically endangered Western
population as separate from the Eastern
population, as genetic studies indicate
that the two populations probably do not
mix.
The Western population
of North Pacific gray whales depend on the
waters off Sakhalin Island for their survival.
During feeding season the whales must consume
enough to maintain themselves for the rest
of the year, when they migrate great distances
to their breeding grounds. Their primary
feeding area, near the proposed platform,
is doubly important as the shallow waters
are one of the only places where mother
whales can teach their calves to feed on
the sea bed.
Sakhalin Energy already
has two platforms in the area, and said
previously that drilling technology advances
eliminated the need for a third. The company
acknowledges that having two rather than
three platforms “significantly reduces the
potential for environmental impact,” according
to an official Sakhalin Energy document.
Moreover, Sakhalin Energy studies from ten
years ago show that the area being proposed
for the third platform is unsuitable due
to unstable clay at the seabed in the earthquake-prone
area.
“We are astonished by
the announcement from Sakhalin Energy that
it intends to build a third platform,” said
Wendy Elliott, Species Programme Manager,
WWF-International.
“The company’s own detailed
assessments concluded previously that two
platforms would be preferable, both for
environmental reasons and for the efficiency
of the operation.”
The company plans to
conduct a seismic survey in the summer of
2011 to determine where to begin platform
construction. The surveys are used to detect
oil deposits under the ocean bed and involve
shooting loud pulses of noise into the ocean
floor.
Three seismic surveys
were conducted around whale feeding habitat
last summer causing severe pressure on the
animals. Noise from the surveys can be devastating
for species such as gray whales that rely
on sound to navigate, communicate and find
their food.
“We still do not know
how badly the whales were affected by major
seismic activity last summer – and will
not know until the whales return to their
feeding grounds again this year and scientists
can determine if any are malnourished. It
is totally inappropriate for Sakhalin Energy
to plan another seismic survey in 2011 before
we have the opportunity to examine the health
of the animals,” said Doug Norlen, Policy
Director at Pacific Environment.
Assessments of the impact
of Sakhalin Energy’s operations on western
gray whales are routinely made by a panel
of independent experts – the Western Gray
Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP). However the
panel’s assessment and subsequent advice
has been based on the operation of two,
not three platforms. The proposal for a
third platform calls into question whether
all previous recommendations from WGWAP
and regulatory approvals from the Russian
Government need to be re-evaluated.
Masha Vorontsova, Director
of IFAW Russia, added: “IFAW has been involved
in and supported regular annual monitoring
of the WGW at their feeding grounds at Sakhalin
Island since 2000. We are deeply concerned
by the plans of Sakhalin Energy to install
the third platform in this area, which is
a critical habitat for the survival of the
Western gray whale. IFAW will continue its
regular monitoring of the Western gray whale
feeding grounds, and activities of the oil
companies at the area through summer 2011
to ensure that there are no violations of
the existing regulations, which would negatively
impact the Western gray whale.”
Editor’s notes:
An NGO statement outlining
why the platform should not go ahead is
available on www.panda.org
The Sakhalin Energy document stating that
two rather than three platforms “significantly
reduces the potential for environmental
impact” is available online at www.sakhalinenergy.ru/en/documents/doc_32_pab.pdf
Sakhalin Energy’s Environmental Impact Assessment
document for the previous platform revealed
that the technical capabilities of extended
reach drilling “has reduced the number of
platforms needed to achieve full field development
at Piltun Astokskoye and Lunskoye fields
to two and one respectively. This thereby
results in a smaller footprint with consequent
reduced environmental impact.” The Piltun
Astokskoye field is the area adjacent to
the Western gray whale feeding habitat.
One of the seismic surveys that occurred
very close to gray whale feeding habitat
in 2010 was conducted by Russian oil giant
Rosneft, despite calls from governments,
scientists, and more than 30,000 members
of the public requesting Rosneft to postpone
the survey.