Cases

Arctic Ocean Seismic Surveys

In Brief:

Endangered bowhead whales can be found in the Chukchi Sea.

Photo: Sue Moore/NOAA

Seismic surveys associated with offshore oil and gas development are among the loudest sources of noise in the world's oceans and have been detected thousands of kilometers away from the sound source. Despite this, the National Marine Fisheries Service and Minerals Management Service have approved permits which authorize seismic surveys in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in 2008. The noises associated with these surveys can cause hearing loss in marine mammals, have been associated with whale strandings, and can disrupt marine mammals' feeding and migration and impair their ability to detect predators. The agencies' cursory environmental assessments fail to fully assess the effects of such noise on marine mammals including the endangered bowhead whale. In addition, NMFS issued a permit that violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act because it because allows a single seismic survey to harass tens of thousands of marine mammals and allows the survey to cause potentially serious injury to marine mammals.

Earthjustice is challenging these permits on behalf of conservation and Native Alaskan organizations.

Updated: May 5, 2008

Case #1767