Wells versus whales.

An independent panel of renowned whale experts has warned that planned oil and gas activities by Royal Dutch Shell in Russia's Far East may drive the critically endangered western gray whale into extinction.

The panel, set up by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), concluded that existing and planned large-scale offshore oil and gas development near the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island pose "potentially catastrophic threats" to the western gray whale, whose numbers have plummeted to fewer than 100. In cooperation with two Japanese corporations--Mitsui and Mitsubishi--Shell plans to build a pipeline through the whales' sole feeding grounds.

The scientists found that the pipeline's construction would physically damage the feeding grounds, subject the whales to noise and other stressful disturbances, and increase the risk of ship strikes. Once the pipeline is built, the whales would also face the further risk of oil spills and gas leaks. Any of these could carry severe consequences, given that one of the three original gray whale populations is extinct and the western gray whale population is considered critically endangered. The panel said that the death of just one of the 23 remaining reproductive females each year could drive the whales into extinction.

The panel criticized the Shell-led consortium's proposed safeguards, deeming them "questionable," and recommended the company suspend operations in the area, home to a wealth of other rare and endangered species.

More than 50 conservation and environmental groups, including World Wildlife Fund, are urging a bank consortium led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to withhold funds from the oil and gas development. The EBRD agreed last year that an environmental impact assessment conducted for the project had been inadequate.

--WWF, 2/16