RFA Reports Christie Steps IN on Seismic Blasting

[Foul Hook]

Looks like this vessel has seen these types of issues before.

Federal court will not stop U.S. seismic testing in whale habitat off B.C. coast




The Federal Court of Canada on Thursday dismissed a request by environmental groups for a stay of the federal government's authorization of U.S. seismic surveys off the B.C. coast.



By The Vancouver Sun August 28, 2009










The Federal Court of Canada on Thursday dismissed a request by environmental groups for a stay of the federal government's authorization of U.S. seismic surveys off the B.C. coast.

Justice Michael Kelen said he was not satisfied that the surveys would harm marine life based on new federal requirements imposed since the legal action was launched.

The requirements include a reduction in the 180-decibel sound level of the survey's air guns to 160 decibels, an increase in marine mammal observers, and a stipulation that no testing occur within about seven kilometres of a whale.

The Living Oceans Society and Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society brought the action, fearing the seismic surveys from the research vessel Marcus G. Langseth would harm marine life, including whales and dolphins.

The Marcus G. Langseth is owned by the U.S. National Science Foundation and is used by universities, research institutes and labs to study the Earth's interior below the ocean floor.

The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of Columbia University, operates the ship as a research facility on behalf of the foundation. Scheduling is coordinated by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System, an organization of 61 academic institutions and national laboratories.

The study underway about 250 kilometres off Vancouver Island is to help in the understanding and prediction of earthquakes, with additional scientific research into species living in the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area.

lpynn@vancouversun.com

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