IUCN Probes Oil Development Impact on Endangered Gray Whales

GLAND, Switzerland, August 26, 2004 (ENS) - Two offshore platforms linked to Sakhalin Island by pipelines are the next oil development planned for Russia's Far East, but the project is located near the summer feeding grounds of the only known population of critically endangered Western gray whales.

In response to widespread concerns over the environmental impacts of this oil and gas development, IUCN–The World Conservation Union is convening an Independent Scientific Review Panel to evaluate how it may affect the whales.

Known as the Sakhalin II Phase 2 project, developed by Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC), the project has come under public scrutiny over its potential threat to the survival of the Western gray whale, eschrichtius_robustus.

Last month, the International Whaling Commission called for urgent measures to protect these rare and vulnerable whales.

The Northwest Pacific gray whale is classed as critically endangered because it is geographically distinct, and is thought to have less than 50 reproductive individuals after being hunted to near extinction. (Photo by David W. Weller of NOAA courtesy IUCN)

Mohammad Rafiq, who heads the of IUCN Business and Biodiversity Programme, said, “Conservation organizations and potential project lenders have been asking for an independent scientific review of the project. Sakhalin Energy Investment Company has approached IUCN to carry out this task as a knowledge based organization."

"We have accepted this responsibility after consultation with key stakeholders in consideration of our Union’s mission and mandate and on the condition of full autonomy to ensure the credible, objective review expected from IUCN,” said Rafiq.

Pending this review, Sakhalin Energy has postponed certain development work.

The only known population of this species in the Northwest Pacific may number no more than 100 whales, says the IUCN, which maintains the Red List of Threatened Species, a database that tracks the conservation status of thousands of animal and plant species.

The Red List results from the work of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, a network of some 7,000 volunteer members from almost every country of the world - researchers, government officials, wildlife veterinarians, zoo and botanical institute employees, marine biologists, protected area managers, and wildlife experts.

The Independent Scientific Review Panel, commissioned by the Sakhalin Energy Investment Company and convened by IUCN, will be made up of international experts on gray whale ecology and behavior, oil spill risk analysis, noise and bio-acoustics, and other issues. The IUCN said all issues will be identified in close consultation with the conservation community, governments, lending organizations and the companies involved.

Dr. Randall Reeves, chair of the Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, will chair the Panel.

The Panel is expected to complete the review by the end of November this year. Its report will provide information to the decision-makers of the project, including its potential lenders, and will be made publicly available.

Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. is the Shell-led operating company for the Sakhalin II Production-Sharing Agreement. Mitsubishi and Mitsui are the other key shareholders.

The company was formed in 1994 to develop the Piltun Astokhskoye oil field and the Lunskoye gas field in the Sea of Okhotsk, offshore Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.

Western gray whale and an oil platform offshore Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. (Photo courtesy Pacific Environment)

Sakhalin Energy is conducting its own Western gray whale research program, separate and distinct from the IUCN's Independent Scientific Review Panel.

Sakhalin Energy is funding the research program jointly with other oil companies working on Sakhalin offshore oil and gas projects, and says that over $2 million dollars is being spent this year.

Russian scientific institutions supervised by the All-Russian Fisheries and Oceanography Research Institute, Moscow, as well as international experts, are conducting the program of studies.

They are doing marine acoustic monitoring work, including ambient noise monitoring and transmission loss experiments. Aerial, vessel and shore based distribution surveys as well as a whale photo identification program are underway.

Whale behavior is being studied to provide a basis to further document potential impacts on the whales, Sakhalin Energy said, and satellite tagging technology is being considered.

The onshore program of distribution and behavior studies and the aerial surveys started in July, and the vessel based surveys began in August. The surveys will run until October.

Sakhalin Energy, in partnership with other oil companies working on the Sakhalin Shelf, has been involved in the monitoring and research of the Western gray whale since 1997.

"Through benthic studies we know that the Piltun feeding area, and an offshore feeding area discovered in the last two years as a result of the monitoring work, are very rich in food resources," Sakhalin Energy said in a statement August 13.

The presence and distribution of the whales offshore Sakhalin are directly related to the abundance of these food resources, the company said.

Ten new calves were identified in 2003 through photo ID studies sponsored by Sakhalin Energy and partners, the company said.

"While this is the highest number of calves recorded since the studies began, it is not expected again this year as these whales give birth on average about once every three years and the overall whale population estimate is low," Sakhalin Energy said. "Nonetheless, the birth of so many calves last year is encouraging, and the monitoring teams will be keeping watch for new offspring again this season."

The IUCN is online at: http://www.iucn.org

Sakhalin Energy's Gray Whale Protection Program is found here.