Posted on 24 August
2009 - WWF warned today that an oil spill
off Australia’s North West coast may take
a heavy toll on the region’s
globally significant wildlife.
“This is a potential
disaster for turtles, whales, dolphins,
sea birds and sea snakes,” said Dr Gilly
Llewellyn, WWF-Australia’s Conservation
Manager.
“The oil and gas spill
is still not under control and is expected
to continue leaking for two months. Depending
on winds, the slick could be pushed to atolls
like Scott and Ashmore Reef – areas that
are globally significant for their unique
wildlife.”
Marine species such
as green and loggerhead turtles are at serious
risk from the pollution.
“Turtle hatchlings spend
a huge amount of time on the surface of
the water. Unfortunately, this means that
recent hatchlings from the beaches and islands
of North West Australia could be swimming
into the slick,” said Dr Llewellyn.
The spill occurred at
the edge of Australia’s continental shelf,
an ocean highway used by loggerhead turtles,
dolphins and endangered species such as
the pygmy blue whale.
WWF warned that increasing
the number of offshore oil and gas ventures
in the region is significantly increasing
the risk to marine life.
“The more industrial
activity, the higher the risk – it is a
simple equation,” said Dr Llewellyn.
“We urgently need to
consider both short and long term ways of
preventing and containing spills like this
one, as well as reducing the footprint of
industrial development on creatures like
marine turtles.”
As the Federal Government
prepares to release its environmental assessment
of the proposed Gorgon liquefied natural
gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island, a Class
A nature reserve and important rookery for
flatback turtles, WWF is calling on all
parties to consider safer alternative locations
for the massive project.
“We strongly urge the
Government and oil companies involved to
move the proposed LNG plant to the mainland
to reduce the risk of harm to our marine
wildlife,” said Dr Llewellyn.
WWF has suggested Ashburton
North, on the Western Australian coast may
be more suitable for gas processing.
Chevron, one of three
companies involved in the Gorgon project
(along with Exxon Mobil and Shell) has already
filed applications to develop another LNG
project in the vicinity. By building infrastructure
on the mainland, both the environmental
and economic costs of such projects could
be reduced.
“The environmental challenges
on the mainland are by no means trivial,
but they are vastly more manageable than
at Barrow. This decision needs to be made
urgently and should be the highest priority
for the Government,” said Dr Llewellyn.
The location of oil
and gas infrastructure would not be enough
to ensure the safety of some of the world’s
most diverse marine ecosystems.
“To seriously address
the long term health and survival of marine
species we need to build a network of large
marine sanctuaries for Australia’s north
west which can act as a safety net, giving
animals safe passage through the oceans.”
