AdoptanOcean.org
Public Comments

Your written comments are critical as the Department of Interior makes its final decisions about unleashing airgun blasts along the Atlantic shoreline as a precursor to offshore drilling. Even though the local hearings in coastal cities on these topics have now concluded, a written comment period until May 30, 2012 remains open.

You can comment now, simply by adding your own additional thoughts to the email here or at the following:

Comments by email:
Send email to: GGEIS@boem.gov

(Please note that you must provide an address with your comments, and that the agency is likely to include that address with the published version of their document)

The public may also submit written comments to the following address:

Comments by mail:
Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief,
Regional Assessment Section
Office of Environment (MS5410)
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Gulf of Mexico OCR Region
1201 Elmwood Park Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70123-2394

*Envelope should be labeled: “Comments on the Draft PEIS for Atlantic G&G Activities”

Seismic Survey Diagram
Seismic Survey Diagram
Atlantic OCS Boundaries
Atlantic OCS Boundaries Map Image courtesy of BOEM
Seismic Airgun Surveys

Single blast: Bracketed by a calibration chirp from mid frequency source. Direct link here or listen below.

Recording on the mid-Atlantic Ridge: Recorded by Sharon L. Nieukirk and Dave Mellinger and is played back 10x speed. These sounds were from surveys that were over 3000 km distant. Direct link here or listen below.

Sounds courtesy of Ocean Conservation Research.
Protect Our Atlantic Coastal Economy

Big Oil’s lobbyists are pushing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to open the Atlantic coastline to the risks posed by offshore drilling rigs, threatening our coastal economies based on clean and productive ocean waters. The oil companies are hoping that local communities may have forgotten the ongoing damage caused by the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster and the close call which nearly brought slicks and tarballs from that spill northward on the currents of the Gulf Stream into our Atlantic coast fishing grounds and onto our favorite beaches.

As a first step in industrializing the Atlantic Coast, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently announced that a series of local hearings will be held during April of this year (2012) to listen to public input about plans to open the Mid-Atlantic and South-Atlantic coast to seismic survey ships gathering subsea geological data in anticipation of approving offshore drilling in this region. Geophysical surveys are a precursor to opening coastal waters from Delaware southward into Florida to drilling rigs.

Geophysical operations used in petroleum exploration result in a number of adverse impacts on a wide variety of marine life and important seafloor fish habitat. Ship-based geophysical seismic surveys using towed multiple “airgun” arrays involve the use of very powerful explosive impulses occurring every 10-15 seconds, hour after hour, for weeks, and sometimes months, on end. In order to gather geologic profiles from seabed rock structures, seismic survey vessels tow long cables which trail 24 or more of these airguns – and multiple acoustic transducers – for the purpose of emitting and receiving intense sound waves to evaluate subsea geologic formations. The sound source is a repetitive series of explosions created by high-pressure gas airguns, which constantly send a sharp spike of loud acoustic pulses through the water and deep into the seafloor.

Airgun arrays produce noise at frequencies that are especially concentrated in the range from 20 to 150 Hz, which is within the communication and hearing range of many marine species, including the endangered great whales. This broadband noise can impact a wide range of marine mammals, fish, and other sea life. Geophysical survey ships crisscross each prospective seafloor target area numerous times to gather high-resolution seismic traces from their transducers along thousands of miles of seismic trackline.

Dramatic changes in the behavioral responses of fishes and marine mammals to loud underwater noises in the ocean have long been observed. For decades, commercial fishermen have reported numerous occurrences of a “startle” behavioral response in schools of fish from an area being targeted by seismic surveys, leading to losses in catch. Damage to the swim bladder (the flotation organ that many fish use to mediate their buoyancy and hear sounds) has also been reported in association with seismic survey activities.

Since fish rely on their ability to hear to find mates, locate prey, and avoid predators, their survival is seriously compromised by airgun damage. Interactions between seismic survey vessels and endangered whale, sea turtle, and fish populations are considered to represent an “incidental take” under the federal Endangered Species Act. These kinds of impacts, right on top of the lush seafloor canyons and delicate coldwater coral gardens along our coast, cannot be considered benign.
For more information, see:

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Atlantic Geological and Geophysical (G&G) Activities
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)

U.S. Department of the Interior
Secretary Salazar, Director Beaudreau Announce Next Steps for
Potential Energy Development in the Mid- and South Atlantic

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