Gulf of America? NOAA Okays Whale-Bumping Oil Surveys!
Published Date: 3/13/2025
Notice
Summary
NOAA just gave WesternGeco the green light to do geophysical surveys for oil and gas in the Gulf of America from March to December 2025. This means they can accidentally disturb some marine mammals, but only in a way that won’t harm their populations. The new rules keep marine life safe while letting energy exploration continue smoothly.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
NOAA authorizes WesternGeco surveys Mar–Dec 2025
NOAA issued a Letter of Authorization to WesternGeco allowing geophysical surveys in the Gulf of America from March 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025. The planned work covers about 130 survey days with roughly 100 days of sound-source operation (20 days in Zone 5 and 80 days in Zone 7), using three source vessels and either a 28-element 5,000 in3 airgun array or that array combined with a low-frequency tuned pulse source.
NMFS authorizes specific marine mammal take numbers
NMFS authorized defined numbers of incidental harassment 'takes' for many marine mammal species associated with the survey. Examples from the notice include: sperm whale—618 authorized takes (scaled 261.5; 8.7% of abundance); pantropical spotted dolphin—20,572 authorized takes (scaled 5,904.2; 8.8% of abundance); striped dolphin—4,509 authorized takes (scaled 1,294.2; 23.0% of abundance). The authorized takes were evaluated as ‘‘no more than small numbers’’ relative to abundance.
No authorized take for Rice's whale
NMFS determined there is not a reasonable potential for take of Rice's whale for this survey and therefore authorized zero takes of Rice's whale through the LOA. The notice explains Rice's whale habitat is generally in 100–400 m depths, while WesternGeco's planned survey is in approximately 1,600–3,000 m depths.
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