AMERICA’S search for as yet undiscovered oil and gas supplies could have a serious impact on its marine life. Acoustic surveys used to look for energy deposits under the ocean floor could injure or scare whales and dolphins, and potentially harm fish and invertebrates too, ecologists warn.
The US Energy Policy Act, passed by Congress this month, includes a provision for the seismic mapping of the country’s entire outer continental shelf – defined by the government as the area of coast that stretches from the far edge of state waters some 5 to 19 kilometres offshore to the far edge…
