Help protect critically endangered Western Gray Whales from oil drilling companies

Associated Press: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a crossbow as he sits on a rubber boat at the Olga Harbor of Kamchatka Peninsula during a scientific expedition, to study grey whales on Wednesday, Aug.25, 2010.

Immediate, please sign and send:
Help protect critically endangered Western Gray Whales from oil drilling companies

From IFAW

A giant oil and gas company called Rosneft is planning to conduct seismic surveys in the shallow waters off the Russian Far East coast. This area near the village of Lebedinskoe is the only known place where Western North Pacific Gray Whales congregate for feeding and socializing their young. The seismic survey uses powerful sound waves which can be painfully deafening for the whales, given their acute sense of hearing.

The critically endangered Western North Pacific Gray Whale includes only 130 or so mammals, of which only two dozen females are able to breed. The whales typically spend summer months in the area, so we need to urge Rosneft to delay its disruptive seismic survey until it has implemented measures to monitor and protect the whales.

We have prepared a template email for you to send. We encourage you to personalize this copy to make it more effective. Please ensure that you are polite at all times.

MESSAGE TEXT:
I am writing you to urge Rosneft to please postpone the proposed Lebedinskoe seismic survey, scheduled to begin shortly off of Sakhalin Island.

This survey work could have a severe impact on the critically endangered Western North Pacific gray whale population. It is estimated that only 130 of the whales remain, including just around 30 breeding females.

The shallow waters in this area are a crucial feeding area for the endangered whales, and the survey is scheduled to occur during a time of year when the most whales will be present.

Furthermore, I request that Rosneft undertake a comprehensive monitoring and mitigation program that will constantly assess the impact the survey work has on whales, and prevent whales from being exposed to harmful noise.

The International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee recently stated that they were very concerned about the potential impact of this survey of western gray whales. They recommended that the survey work be postponed until at least June 2011 so that monitoring and mitigation measures can be implemented.

I therefore request that you postpone this seismic survey work until June, 2011, and that a monitoring and mitigation plan, similar to the one used by Sakhalin Energy, is implemented in advance of any planned seismic surveys.

RELATED:

Putin Fires Darts At Gray Whale From Crossbow
By Associated Press

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fired darts from a crossbow at a gray whale off Russia’s Far Eastern coast on Wednesday in the latest in a series of man-versus-nature stunts designed to cultivate the image of a macho leader.

Putin held his balance in a rubber boat that was being tossed around in choppy waters off the Kamchatka Peninsula, and eventually hit the whale with a special arrow designed to collect skin samples.

“I hit it at the fourth try!” a beaming Putin, kitted out in black-and-orange waterproof suit and black beanie, yelled to a camera crew from the boat.

A biologist with him displayed the skin sample and said it would allow experts to determine where the whale came from.

When the boat skidded onto the beach, a bouyant Putin hopped off and made a beeline for waiting reporters. Clearly in his element, Putin replied jovially to a question as to whether the endeavor was dangerous.

“Living in general is dangerous,” he quipped. Asked why he got involved, he simply said, “Because I like it. I love the nature.”

But nature may be under threat by a seismic survey being conducted nearby by Russia’s top oil company, Rosneft. The International Fund for Animal Welfare released a statement on Wednesday condemning the 2-month, pre-drilling survey as potentially damaging to the gray whales. In the course of exploration, oil companies use seismic air guns and other sources to produce pulses of acoustic energy through the water. Scientists say this is damaging to much marine life, and the timing is bad for the whales, which are currently in a narrow feeding window to store fat for the entire year.

Putin, meanwhile, during his eight years as president and the past two as prime minister, has learned to use television to cultivate the image of a rugged leader beloved by the Russian people.

His mastery of the medium has been on full display in recent weeks as he has taken command of efforts to extinguish the wildfires that swept across much of western Russia and to help the thousands of people who lost their homes.

The message has been that it is Putin, rather than his junior co-leader President Dmitry Medvedev, who is equipped to look after Russia, its people and environment. Putin has been canny about his plans to run in the 2012 presidential election, but has excluded running against Medvedev, saying the two will come to an agreement. Whatever the decision, his action-man lifestyle shows he is not about to recede from public view.

He has been photographed fishing bare-chested in Russia’s Altai region, and was shown on television diving into an icy river and swimming the butterfly stroke.

In April he attached a satellite-tracking collar on a tranquilized polar bear. He also has shot a Siberian tiger with a tranquilizer gun and released leopards into a wildlife sanctuary.

Please also take action:
Dolphin Slaughter Exposed by Eco-Activists, The Cove: Five actions you can take right now