6th Floor Eland House Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU 24th March 1997

Seismic testing - Sperm whale in Firth of Forth

As you will know, there has been considerable public interest in the sperm whale or whales presently at risk of stranding in the Firth of Forth area. These are deep sea whales and this is a shallow sea area.

There is also growing concern among scientists studying whales that seismic testing may be disrupting behaviour and migration. In particular, there are fears that the extensive seismic testing on the "Atlantic Frontier" West of Shetland and in the Rockall Trough and Plateau area may be causing sperm whales that normally migrate along the west of Britain to enter the North Sea east of Britain, and strand in shallower water.

Strandings of sperm whales around the British Isles and northern Europe appear to be increasing in recent years. During the winter of 1994/5 some 21 sperm whales stranded around the north Sea (an abnormally high number) (Law et al. 1996), and in both 1988 and 1992, 32 sperm whales were stranded on the Atlantic coasts of Britain and Norway (Berrow et al. 1993). There have also been recent reports of sperm whales entering the shallow North Sea, see for example (Smeenk and Addink, 1993) (Law et al. 1996)

The presence of sperm whales in the Firth of Forth can only add to this concern. The fact that these whales are apparently frightened by traffic noise from land is an indication of the disturbance which they may face from seismic testing explosions.

Greenpeace calls on the Government to urgently and publicly investigate possible disruption to whale migration and behaviour as a result of seismic testing and other noisy oil related activity, and we repeat our call for a halt to further development of the Atlantic oilfields.

We are writing in similar terms to the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Yours sincerely

Chris Rose
Deputy Executive & Programme Director
Greenpeace UK

Berrow, S. Evans, P. and Sheldrick, M. 1993. An analysis of sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, stranding and sighting records, from Britain and Ireland. Journal of the Zoological Society of London 230:333-337

Law, RJ., Stringer, RL., Allchin, CR., and Jones, BR. 1996. Metals and organochlorines in Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) stranded around the North Sea during the 1994-1995 winter. Marine Pollution Bulletin 32(1):72-77.

Smeenk, C. and Addink, MJ. 1993. Sightings of a group of sperm whales in Dutch waters, with historical notes and the possible Orkney Connection. Lutra 36:25-29