HELP THE NARWHALS

[Uttama Anderson]

 

IT’S TIME TO EXPOSE THE OIL COMPANIES FUNDING SEISMIC BLASTING!

 

This spring, as soon as the ice starts to melt, seismic blasts will reverberate throughout Canada’s East Arctic Ocean off Baffin Island, with foreseeably disastrous consequences to local marine life and coastal communities, and raising the spectre of fossil fuel exploitation in these pristine waters.

 

Seismic ‘testing’, as it is known in the oil and gas industry, is the method of choice to look for oil and gas deposits buried deep under the seabed. But it is a violent and traumatic event for marine animals, subjecting them to sounds thousands of times louder than a jet engine, every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for weeks on end. The last time seismic ‘testing’ took place in these waters, over 1000 narwhals were killed because they became disoriented and trapped in ice.

 

Seismic blasting costs money. It doesn’t just happen. It is pre-funded by oil companies who stand to profit from knowing where the oil is. For months now, volunteers at Parvati.org have been trying to uncover which oil companies are backing the scheduled blasting, in order to encourage them to cease this abhorrent activity. However, this information is not being made available.

 

Volunteers are encouraged to join us in calling government employees who we expect know which oil companies are behind the seismic blasting. With consistent, dedicated and heartfelt effort, eventually the names of the companies will come to light and we will be able to engage in public dialogue aimed at stopping seabed blasting for good.

 

For more information about this campaign and to get involved, please visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RgvPoKiW2oLMqA42eBwVOFcr7ZHFiVotilmKSKQKxcM/edit. Please also sign our petitions demanding transparent government and business practices around oil and gas exploration at Parvati.org.