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Genesis tool measures noise impact on marine mammals
(5/24/2004 - OGI: London) A new tool for measuring the impact on marine
mammals of noises produced by various oil and gas industry activities has
been developed by Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants. Stewart Risk, CEO of the
newly formed industry environmental group Resource, which is funded by the
UK Department of Trade and Industry and Scottish Enterprise, said, "Genesis
Oil and Gas Consultants, is supporting oil giant BP in understanding and
managing the impacts from noise to the marine environment."
Genesis' principal environmental engineer, Sean Hayes, said, "The impacts of
manmade noise in the marine environment are poorly understood. While many
species have evolved to be tolerant of natural loud noises, from time to
time we are reminded of the gaps in our knowledge by events such as the mass
strandings of beaked whales in recent years believed to be linked to naval
sonar. The UK is home to internationally important communities of beaked
whales, and in its environmental support work for the DTI, Genesis has
explored the impacts of noise created by oil and gas activity, such as
seismic surveys, on beaked whales, as well as sharks, rays, and turtles.
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Beaked whale. |
"As part of BP's commitment to responsible environmental stewardship, we are
working with them to examine the effects of subsea choke valves for the
proposed Rhum development - a BP field in the North Sea operated in
partnership with the Iranian Oil Company (UK) Ltd. Our tool is a computer
model which uses 3D visualization to measure high and low frequency and
trace the path of the noise as it travels through water at any point. It
then overlays this onto data of the species present in order to calculate
the impact."
The model is also being used in an environmental assessment for the proposed
connection into the Forties pipeline by the EnCana Buzzard development.
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