The legal suit challenged the federal permits that allow Shell Oil Co. and BP PLC to search for oil and gas using powerful acoustic devices that have been shown, at times, to harm a variety of marine animals. In the area seismic exploration taking place which means the technology is used to determine the geologic makeup of the sea bed. Attorney Clayton Jernigan of Earthjustice, told that the federal government is rushing to approve a burst of new seismic activity without completely studying the effects on marine life.
The law suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage in which it says that the exploration could disrupt tens of thousands of animals as they feed, socialize and travel through the seas of northern Alaska. This worries most of the Alaska Natives, who depend heavily on the marine mammals for food. They fear the animals will desert traditional hunting areas for quieter waters.
Lily Tuzroyluke of the Native Village of Point Hope, a federally recognized tribe and one of the plaintiffs, said that shooting seismic gun scattered the marine mammals. Commenting on this Jernigan said that the federal government violated its own environmental protection laws because it failed to completely study the effects of industry before permitting the companies to “bombard the northern oceans around the clock with noises as loud as a rocket or a volcanic eruption.”
Ken Hollingshead, a fisheries biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service, told that the authority has implemented a mitigation programme to ensure the impacts are not significant. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith called the company’s seismic work is safe and environmentally responsible.
