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Scientists React To Proposed Seismic Blasting Off Of East Coast

Humpback Whale in the Atlantic Ocean; Stellwagen Bank (Massachusetts).
Reinhard Link
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Humpback Whale in the Atlantic Ocean; Stellwagen Bank (Massachusetts).

Scientists are concerned about recent proposals from a national agency that would allow companies to search for oil and gas below the Atlantic Ocean floor.

The proposals come after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April to roll back a five-year ban on drilling off the East Coast.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is looking to authorize five requests for seismic airgun surveys. During the surveys, explosions would go off in the ocean every ten seconds. 

Airgun and Echosounders. Credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

The explosions echo off the ocean floor. Then, the echoes are read by an instrument on a vessel that interprets them to determine if there is any recoverable gas or oil. 

Scott Kraus, senior science advisor at the New England Aquarium, said adding sound to the water would be a problem for marine mammals, such as whales, that depend on sound for survival.

“They use acoustics for finding food, finding mates, maintain social cohesion, they use sound for migration, they use sound for everything that is critical for their lives,” Kraus said.

Michael Jasny, director of an international marine mammal protection project for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said if whales can't hear each other over the blasts, they stop communicating. 

“For endangered whales, like the North Atlantic right whale, airguns are disruptive enough to silence species literally over tens of thousands of square miles," Jasny said. 

Both scientists said seismic blasts also cause harm to fish and sea turtles, and could affect commercial fishing as fish migrate away to escape the sound of the explosions. 

The National Marine Fisheries Service plans to use mitigation effortsto minimize harm to marine mammals. However, Kraus and Jasny claim the agency is using outdated research to set those measures.

The agency is accepting public comment on the proposal until early July.

Copyright 2017 The Public's Radio

Avory joined us from Wisconsin Public Radio where she worked as a general assignment reporter. Previously, she did some science and community reporting for Philadelphia's public radio station, WHYY. Avory is a Philadelphia native and is looking forward to being back on the East Coast to start her next adventure.

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