Update: Despite mounting protests, the seismic survey has started and the damage to people's livelihood has begun, as shown by the frontpage of Cebu Daily News.
Three days from now, on June 18, 2007, marine vessel (M/V) Pacific Sword of the NorAsian Energy Ltd. (NAEL) will sail from Palawan to the Cebu-Bohol Strait to conduct a seismic survey for the offshore oil exploration of the South Block, Service Contract 51.
The strait lies between the southern tail of the island of Cebu and Bohol which host various protected areas declared by the national and local government units, including the Cabilao Island, Sandingan Island, and the Panggangan Island Protected Seascape and Landscape.
The strait, particularly the vicinity of Cabilao Island, is considered a marine passage way and hammerhead sharks and marine mammals abound in the area. It is therefore not surprising that dive sites are a plenty in the area. It is also obviously the main source of livelihood of a multituted of fisherfolks in Bohol.
The official notice issued is nothing but ominous. It states, "(F)or safety reasons, all fishing vessels, passenger ferries and commercial vessels are requested to stay 8.5 kilometers away from M/V Pacific Sword to avoid damage to their vessels and fishing equipment. Likewise, the M/V Pacific Sword will be using an energy source submerged in water that will emit sound energy with an intensity of 200 decibels that can harm swimmers and divers within 10 kilometers of the vessel."
Unfortunately, no such notice can be relayed to the marine life at the Cebu-Bohol Strait. This is the main reason why the Bohol Alliance of Non-Government Organizations (BANGON) and some sensible local government officials, are up in arms. Please help them stop this nonsense.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Disturbing our seas
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4 comments:
I hope our government has the sense and will to stop this.
On a lighter vein, please note that you've been tagged.
I can understand the concerns. But what worries me is the sense that that's all there is to the threats our marine life is facing. Years ago I read that land-based sources of marine pollution are more detrimental to marine life than all other destructive practises combined because they are intractable and happens everyday. Added to that, our rich coral reefs are located just a few metres from land where dense human settlements are located. Plus it is easier for all bourgeosie do-gooders to campaign for sexier and topical issues than fight for the real fight! I bet as soon as the brouhaha is over, we'll forget about marine life and all. Haven't we seen this before?
hi. thanks for the comment. i do understand that "bigger" threats to marine life abound. but i also know some of the people leading the campaign against this testing, and they are people who have worked on protecting the environment for years. to call them bourgeosie-do-gooders is quite off.
i've read about this also. i heard that exploration has already started at the cebu side of the strait since there was a lot of protests from the bohol side (even from the governor). i'm not sure whether fisherfolk and civil sectors from the cebu side were successful in having this exploration stopped.
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