-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Action Alert - Right whales headed north - Seismic blasting
awaits them
Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2018 11:20:47 -0400
From: Gretchen Fitzgerald <membership@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Right whales are headed north and seismic blasting will be waiting for
them.
<https://www.sierraclub.ca/en/Right-whales-on-their-way-seismic-blasting-awaits-them?cid1=61729&cs=4daca67308fbc59e7c417476d3f15bf2_1522941647_168#jump>
Right whales are on the brink. Take Action Now
<http://www.sierraclub.ca/en/Right-whales-on-their-way-seismic-blasting-awaits-them?cid1=61729&cs=4daca67308fbc59e7c417476d3f15bf2_1522941647_168#jump>
to protect them.
Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced new measures last week that
are intended to protect right whales.
But a gaping hole in protections was left - in favour of oil and gas
companies - for what could have been the most heroic announcement of
this minister’s professional career: to order a stand-down of all oil
and gas exploration anywhere near right whale critical habitat.
No mention of preventing the crippling effects of seismic blasting was
mentioned at the live announcement – not a word.
An earlier and most troubling announcement was made in February – that
BP (British Petroleum) has been given the go-ahead from our government
to drill up to seven new wells. In addition, Statoil of Norway wants to
shoot seismic blasts this spring on the Scotian Shelf. (See page 11 of
Statoil’s project description
<https://secure.sierraclub.ca/sites/sierraclub.ca/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=6148&qid=10254408>to
understand how close the blasting will be to right whale critical
habitat.) Seismic noise can be heard by up to 2,500 miles from the
source - *this blasting will be **less than 75 km or 50 miles from
critical right whale habitat!*
And as you know, the federal government continues to ignore our call for
a moratorium on oil and gas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence - where most of
the right whale deaths occurred last summer.
The Fisheries Minister and this government have a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to be heroes, and they must seize it. Because after this
summer, they may be no more lifetimes for right whales – their fate may
simply be sealed. The government needs to say “NO” to oil companies and
create a safe perimeter around whales by removing the horrific threat of
seismic blasts.
They must protect these whales. If they do not, we will watch the last
of this species die one-by-one until they are all gone, and the legacy
of not acting quickly enough will be attached to this government. If we
do not stop it, seismic testing from the oil and gas industry will
likely be the end for this fragile population of our right whales who
are at this moment on the brink.
Dr. Lindy Weilgart from Dalhousie University offers an unequivocal
caution: "As the government's news release itself admits, underwater
noise is a substantial contributing factor to the right whale population
decline. As such, seismic surveys for oil and gas need to be prohibited
anywhere where harmful noise levels can degrade right whale habitat.
While the proposed measures are laudable, an ecosystem approach to
safeguard critical right whale habitat is required, rather than a
piecemeal approach to various individual threats."
Thank you for taking urgent action today
<http://www.sierraclub.ca/en/Right-whales-on-their-way-seismic-blasting-awaits-them?cid1=61729&cs=4daca67308fbc59e7c417476d3f15bf2_1522941647_168#jump>
and thank you for standing in defence of these extraordinary whales.
Gretchen Fitzgerald
National Program Director