Bite Back - Grey whale being pushed to extinction

Written by staff reporter Wednesday, 29 July 2009 00:00

Photo: Shutterstock

One of the world’s most critically endangered whales, the western Gray whale, is being given the final push towards extinction by the activities of three oil companies, BP, ExxonMobil and Rosneft. There are only about 130 western Gray whales left, with probably just 30 breeding females remaining, yet the three companies are exploring for oil in the heart of their summer feeding grounds off Sakhalin Island in Russia.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) put together a panel of top international scientists to study the problem. They called on all five oil companies with interests in the area, Sakhalin Energy, Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Rosneft, to stop their activities until the impact on the Gray whale population could be assessed and recommendations made about how future development should take place. There has been a significant drop in the number of sightings of these whales around Piltun Bay, the centre of their feeding area, and it would appear that the whales are being forced into deeper water, making it harder for their calves to feed. A recent joint venture between BP and Rosneft saw them doing seismic surveys just north of that area, but unfortunately they chose to ignore the scientific recommendations that might have mitigated its effects on the local wildlife or do any genuine noise monitoring of their operation.

Faced with the findings of the panel, and the recent dramatic drop in sightings, Sakhalin Energy, to its great credit, stopped all of its activities until a further assessment had taken place and agreed to meet with the panel for discussions (the company can be congratulated at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Shell met with the panel and subsequently agreed to alter the route of its oil pipeline to avoid it going right through the heart of the feeding grounds, but still plans an oil drilling platform very nearby. BP, ExxonMobil and Rosneft have totally ignored requests to join the panel and talk to the scientists. They have been given advice on how they could reduce the impact of their operations, and chosen to ignore it completely, and have point blank refused to give even basic information about what they are up to there. Yet when you read its website, ExxonMobil is very clear about its responsibilities: ‘We are committed to continuous efforts to improve environmental performance throughout our operations worldwide... our policy is to encourage concern and respect for the environment.’ ExxonMobil, like BP, which makes similar claims, somehow doesn’t see pushing a species to extinction as environmentally damaging.

A proposal has been put forward to establish the Sakhalin Marine Federal Wildlife Reserve there, which the Russian authorities are considering at the moment, and environmental groups are calling on the oil companies to cease all their activities in that area. Sakhalin Energy’s decision to stop any seismic surveying this year is unfortunately not enough to give the last western Gray whales peace and quiet to feed and raise their calves. An email reminding all three companies of their environmental responsibilities will surely help. You can contact the companies via the ‘contact us’ sections of their websites at: ExxonMobil www.exxonmobil.com and BP at www.bp.com and email Rosneft on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it