COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Feb. 25 (AScribe Newswire) -- Whales and oil.
One is a giant of the ocean; the other a giant of the world economy.
Both have been hunted mercilessly over much of the past century. The question marine researchers have had for decades is one of co-existence: can whales thrive where there is constant drilling and searching for oil?
A five-year study by a Texas A&M University at Galveston researcher shows the answer to be "yes."
Bernd Wursig, professor of marine biology, has been studying the problem since 1997 and his team's research indicates no direct harmful effects from oil exploration and drilling in fertile whale habitats, even in a small population facing the possibility of extinction.
Wursig, who has studied whales and dolphins for the past 32 years, focused on the Sakhalin Island region off the eastern coast of Russia where one particular population of whale - the Western Gray Whale, also known as the Korean Stock Whale - lives much of the year.
Using photo identification analysis and tracking by surveyor's transits from shore, Wursig and his team located and identified numerous Western Gray Whales to obtain an accurate size of the group and to describe movement and behavior.
"Years ago, we counted about 100 Western Gray Whales in this area," Wursig says of the study.
"We know that this group comes back to this area to feed each year. Our research shows that there are still about 100 in the area, meaning their numbers have stayed pretty much the same, despite being in an area that is extremely dense in oil and gas drilling and where there are numerous oil-related industrial activities and a large rig."
"However, for a population so endangered, we would of course love to see numbers actually increase."
Wursig and his team also studied the whales' population demographics of the area - age of the whales, births, eating habits, travel habits, etc - and concluded that the present level of oil and gas exploration in the region has little noticeable direct effect on the Western Gray whale's environment, particularly its feeding habits.
"That is a key finding and a positive one for the whales," Wursig adds.
"This is one of the most oil-rich areas on the earth, where ExxonMobil, Shell and others are exploring. There is quite a bit of seismic activity and accompanying loud noises, such as periodic drilling on the ocean floor, ships in the area and helicopters."
Wursig says he and his team mainly studied feeding and moving habits and the Western Grays mate farther south, so breeding activity in the area has not been much of a concern, he adds.
The Western Gray whale and others were hunted almost to extinction by the early 1900s, Wursig notes, before international hunting laws were passed. The Eastern or California Gray Whale was down to several hundred but now number more than 27,000.
"With so few, that means genetic diversity becomes a problem," he explains.
"With fewer whales available to breed, it means potential health and genetic problems can greatly increase. It's one big reason why all whale species need to thrive."
Wursig says oil companies have funded much of the research about whales, both for economic and environmental responsibility issues.
"The big oil companies have been under tremendous pressure in recent years to see how their activities affect marine life near them," he says.
"It is clearly to their best interests to get factual and accurate information regarding oil exploration and development, and the interaction with marine life. So our work with the oil companies is not adversarial at all but with a spirit of cooperation from them."
"For the short term, at least, we know the effects of oil exploration appear to be minimal. But the cumulative effects of searching and drilling for oil could take years, and the results of many of those studies have yet to be seen."
"We hope to be able to continue to work closely with the
oil industry and political agencies to monitor the
activities and responses of Western Gray Whales in the long
term," Wursig adds.
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