Seismic surveying off the Northland west coast by StatOil this summer could endanger already rare whales and dolphins.
Seismic sonar explosions for oil exploration can damage their hearing which is essential for them to navigate, and to find food. It can also upset marine mammals search for food, interfere with their reproduction, and with hearing sounds vital to their survival, and of course these explosions can cause the animals more stress.
It is ludicrous for the minister (Simon Bridges) to say as he has done on television that he has made sure sufficient regulations are in place to ensure the safety of these marine mammals. There has, unfortunately, been little in the way of extensive surveys of whales and dolphins off Northland's west coast, so there is no baseline data to see if things change with deep sea oil surveys or drilling.
Mr Bridges and StatOil are delving into "unknown waters" when they say there will be no danger to whales and mammals.
They just do not know whether there will be any, or not. And they are hiding that fact behind a whole lot of nonsensical rhetoric - which, when you realise just how much is not known about the effects of oil drilling on our sea animals - is irresponsible.
