Group says blasts could kill thousands of dolphins and whales, endanger local jobs.


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Oil and gas companies want to blast sound pulses 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine to the ocean floor, in hopes of finding fossil fuels off Florida and other Southeast American waters.




"Imagine a rocket being launched out of your living room every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for days to weeks at a time," said Matthew Huelsenbeck, report author and marine scientist at Oceana. "You could go deaf or be forced to move. That's what it's like for sea life that is subjected to seismic testing, but unlike in people, a deaf whale is a dead whale."




But any resulting hearing loss in whales and dolphins could harm the mammals' ability to navigate, feed and care for their young. The sounds also can disturb breeding and feeding and inhibit marine mammals' ability to communicate with one another.

"Airgun blasts threaten marine life of all sizes from tiny fish eggs to large whales, and people too," Huelsenbeck said. "730,000 East Coast jobs depend on a healthy ocean in the region that could be harmed by airguns or drilling. But we don't have to turn the Atlantic into a blast zone."


Most research revolves around sound impacts on marine mammals. The impacts on sea turtles are less clear. Sea turtles don't have ear drums or external ears, but their auditory sense is adapted to vibrations in the water.


"In the long-run, it's only going to keep us more addicted to fossil fuels," Huelsenbeck said of more oil exploration in the Atlantic.

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