Shell's plans to drill in Alaska's waters sets environmentalists' teeth on the edge

Jul 2, 2012 08:48 GMT  ·  By

Panama presently hosts the 64th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, which is expected to come up with a strategy of safeguarding the whales, dolphins and porpoises living in international waters against new drilling operations commissioned by Royal Dutch Shell and other similar companies.

Apparently, the aforementioned global oil and gas company is to launch new drilling projects in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas near Alaska at some point during this month.

This raises serious concerns with respect to the wellbeing of marine mammals living in the Arctic waters, as accidental oil spills are quite likely to occur.

In spite of Shell's efforts to train people in dealing with such unfortunate events, conservationists fear that, once crude oil hits these icy waters, very little can in fact be done to minimize the damage.

One other thing that worries them is that other oil companies are also planning to build new off-shore drilling platforms in the Russian Far East.

As marine biologists warn, drilling in this area is particularly dangerous to our planet's marine mammal population, as this is the only place left in the world where the endangered western gray whales can still come and teach their offspring to feed.

With some cetacean species already brought close to extinction by various human activities, both the WWF and the IWC are trying to convince governments that there is a dire need for establishing so-called whale sanctuaries.

The area they have in mind is that of the South Atlantic waters, between Africa and South America.

As WWF representatives explain, this particular region can serve as a whale sanctuary because an increasing number of these marine mammals have been showing up here throughout the past years, which means that environmental conditions in this part of the world suit them.

Moreover, WWF explains that establishing such whale sanctuaries is likely to benefit not just the animals, but also communities nearby, primarily as a result of ecotourism.

Last, but not least, marine biologists would be offered the chance to study these animals in their natural habitat.

Further information on the topic can be found on the WWF official website.