Coalition Urges UN Curbs on Harmful Ocean Sounds
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Coalition Urges UN Curbs on Harmful Ocean Sounds
WORLD: June 10, 2005
UNITED NATIONS - An environmental coalition urged the United Nations
on Wednesday to take steps to protect whales, dolphins and other
marine life from the powerful sound waves used in oil and gas
exploration and by the world's navies to navigate and detect
submarines.
Marine scientists believe there is a link between the use of
high-intensity sound and recent mass strandings of whales and dolphins
in waters off Greece, Hawaii, New Zealand and elsewhere around the
world since 1985, said the Ocean Noise Coalition.
In each of these cases, the strandings took place near high intensity
sonar or near the use of high-powered industrial "air guns" used in
oil and gas exploration, the coalition grouping over 120 different
organizations told a news conference at UN headquarters.
Intense sound can also seriously injure or kill fish and drive down
the catch rates of commercial fishing operations, according to
scientific studies cited by the coalition, which includes the
Swiss-based World Conservation Union, Chile's Centro de Conservacion
Cetacea and the US-based Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense
Council.
"It is time to pay attention to the studies showing that air guns and
sonar-type signals can seriously injure and kill fish," a coalition
statement said.
"The fact that several studies show that fish catch rates are
significantly lowered by noise from air guns indicates that increasing
levels of human-produced noise in the ocean can significantly and
adversely affect the food supply, employment and economies of many
nations," the statement said.
The groups are trying to convince delegates from 148 nations to take
action on the issue during their consultations this week in New York
on oceans and marine law.
The European Parliament and the International Whaling Commission are
among groups recognizing intense ocean noise as a threat to marine
life and backing international controls, they said.
Some governments including the United States, however, have argued
that sonar use cannot be regulated internationally as it is a matter
of national security.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE