Don Flood couldn’t have said it better in his article, “There’s no reason not to wait on seismic testing,” and he was absolutely right to warn Delaware residents about the impending threat of seismic airgun blasting and offshore drilling.
As a marine scientist I echo his concerns: if you care about your coastal communities and ecosystems, you don’t want oil exploration near Delaware’s waters.
Seismic airguns release blasts of air and create powerful sound waves that travel down through the ocean floor, providing information about oil and gas reserves deep below. This intense, loud noise is particularly concerning for marine life, including fish, turtles, and whales, which depend on sound for communication and survival.
Numerous studies demonstrate the negative impacts that seismic airgun noise has on ocean ecosystems including reduced catch rates of fish, stress responses in crabs, decline in sperm whale feeding calls, and the silencing of bowhead whales.
Documented impacts to bowhead whales, closely related to North Atlantic right whales, are especially alarming because the proposed seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic would take place in North Atlantic right whale critical habitat, and only about 500 of these whales remain.
The risks seismic airgun blasting pose to our ocean environment are unacceptable. Like Don Flood, I urge you to tell your elected officials: no offshore oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic!
Ingrid Biedron Ph.D.
Marine scientist at Oceana
Washington, D.C.
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