Bermuda Denies U.S. Seismic Permit for Marine Mammals' Sake

By Lisa Kitson

HAMILTON, Bermuda, November 17, 2003 (ENS) - A research crew and vessel from the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University arrived in Bermuda last week to embark on a seismic study of the Bermuda rise and platform. They applied for a permit from the Bermuda government only a few weeks ago and arrived to start their research here before the permit had been granted.

Liaising with the Bermuda Biological Station (BBSR), the Ameican marine geologists set about creating a marine mammal stranding response team, based at BBSR, even though there is a local marine mammal stranding response protocol and designated staff responsible for it, who were not contacted.

They also dispersed a large document to local veterinarians and the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo (BAMZ) detailing potential threats to marine mammals from the seismic surveys they wished to conduct.

BAMZ is a government organization, which comes under the Department of Conservation Services in the Ministry of the Environment. Upon receiving the Lamont Doherty document, BAMZ sounded alarm bells within the ministry.

There was no previous provision of any documentation regarding impacts to marine mammals when the American scientists initially applied for the permit. The information about threats to marine mammals, sea turtles, and fish was provided only days before they were set to start their work here.

A humpback whale shows its tail in Bermudan waters. (Photo courtesy WhaleNet)

The list goes on, including a whole range of cetacean species, which are known to exist a 200 mile radius of Bermuda, an area that comes under Bermudian jurisdiction and is a designated marine mammal sanctuary.

The principal investigators on the project were from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. The researchers planned to use marine seismic techniques to image the deep crust and upper mantle beneath the shallow seafloor surrounding the island of Bermuda to determine what physical and chemical changes have been imparted to the plate as a result of the eruption of the Bermuda volcano.

After careful consideration, the Ministry of the Environment decided not to grant the research permit. When the marine conservation officer went to the Lamont Doherty ship personally to give the crew the news that their application had been rejected, they had already left the dock to start their surveys.

The Lamont Doherty crew was then informed via harbor radio that they could not carry out their work in Bermuda waters. Throughout the day, phone calls between the lab in New York and Bermuda went back and forth in an attempt by the seismologists to reach to a favorable agreement.

However, as it stands, the permit has been denied and whales and dolphins in Bermudan waters are now safe from any harassment, injury, or death caused by scientists who arrived under the assumption they could do as they pleased.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in the United States issued these scientists a permit to do this work in Bermuda, and do similar studies in U.S. waters. Yet some conservation organizations say there is an insufficient basis for NMFS to find that the proposed takings would have only a negligible impact on the affected marine mammals.

There is increasing concern that intense sounds introduced into the marine environment, such as those produced by the air guns of seismic operations, have the potential to negatively affect cetaceans.

Air guns can disrupt social and foraging behavior, forcing whales, dolphins and porpoises away from critical habitats. A floating hydrophone array operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the mid-Atlantic has detected air guns at distances of more than 3,000 kilometers. Scientists suspect that animals too close to the guns when they are operating can experience hearing loss and injury.