The soft coral species known as the Sea Raspberry (Gersemia sp.) © Jiri Rezac / Greenpeace
Greetings from the Chukchi Sea, way up in the Arctic north of Alaska, where the team aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza is using a small submarine to study the seafloor in the area Shell hopes to begin drilling for oil this summer. During what we believe to be the first research submarine dives ever in the Chukchi Sea, we were surprised to discover large numbers of corals in the midst of Shell’s proposed drill site.
Shell says it knew the corals are there, telling the Washington Post that corals make up nearly 4% of the marine life at the bottom of the Chukchi. To put that in perspective, the South Florida reefs I studied for my masters thesis– and which attract divers from thousands of miles away – often have about 4% coral cover. Personally, I was definitely not expecting corals to be one of the three most commonly seen species on our dives, along with brittle stars and baskets stars.
Corals are slow growing, long lived, and highly vulnerable to disturbance. They provide habitat for fish and other marine life, often serving as nursery areas for larvae or juveniles. Both the United Nations and the US Government have recognized the importance of protecting corals.
All of this raises questions why there is no mention of Chukchi corals in the environmental impact statement for Shell’s drilling plans. Coral experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration do not appear to have been consulted. The public was not informed. You would think the Department of Interior, which oversees the permitting of offshore drilling, would have learned from the BP Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of moving beyond fiascos like the Gulf assessment which talked about walrus and other Arctic species, it appears little has changed and that environmental impact statements are still treated as little more than bureaucratic requirements to rush through on the way to rubber stamping the next item on Big Oil’s wish list.
There is still time for the Obama administration to take a deep breath and put on the brakes, instead of letting Shell rush to drill in the Arctic. We do not even fully know what is at risk, because most of the area has yet to be explored. And as we discovered firsthand, even some of what Shell does know has not been appropriately made available to the public or taken into consideration by the Department of Interior.
There is still time to save the Arctic from reckless offshore drilling.
Is there a petition to sign? kind regards, louisa solari
I wrote my letters to President Obama, publicly put them out there just hoping anyone and everyone will take the time, become aware, we cannot continue to live for the “moment” – there won’t be future ones to live if Shell or any of the other violators are allowed to continue to do this. They have more than enough resources to find other ways to “energize” human needs: wind, sun, water; my anger comes from the fact that the people and all living things don’t seem to have a say in what is being done to our oceans, lands, the animals – everything we as humans need to survive. And further, we have the science to deal with it. Don’t buy the “cost” and the “bottom line” for any corporation to meet its quota just to serve the few at the cost of so much. I fear all families who have children, grandchildren, all the innocents worldwide will be the ones to pay an enormous price just so we can fill up our cars to do whatever. I do not believe at all that we “can’t fight city hall” – oh yes we can as history has shown us. We just get rid of them; boycott them – stand up to them. Their principles may be compromised but mine will not be. More $$ are spent on “Stop Smoking” campaigns all around the world – excuse me – let some panel of experts tell me that that’s more dangerous than what companies like Shell, BP, etc., are doing???? We were all forced to pay for the change of car emissions; they used to have emissions tests and if you failed, you had to repair it. Living in Florida, that’s been gone for years and I see buses, cars, semi trucks, emitting black smoke into my face. Oh, let’s not forget the ridiculous idea put in place of millions of tankers and their huge use of oil coming out of China to distribute garbage products all around the world. We never had that choice either, did we? Aren’t you mad??? Who the he__ do these arrogant, greedy few think they are? And worse yet, we’re letting them.
To ordinary people of the world, like me. Thank you for helping me find a voice.
I am shocked and surprised at what these companies are doing! These governments and corporations are acting as if the own the planet. NO Shell we don’t need you to an extent that you will destroy our planet. You are absolutely not going to drill the arctic. It doesn’t belong to you.