Ocean Sentry
(From khaleejtimes.com) Solovetsky Islands, Russia – Scientists have recorded a small drop in the whale population that they attribute in part to human activity in Arctic regions. ‘As global warming continues, the threats are going to grow dramatically,’ Belkovich said. ‘They can play here because there is no danger,’ said Olga Kirilova, a fellow researcher.
‘But in the winter they go north and face intensive shipping, the tankers and their pollution.’
While the noise of the tankers is recognized as a major problem for the whales, who use sound to navigate, the biggest danger is the threat of a spill that could take years to clear.
With the melting of ice sheets in the Arctic, the Russian government has set the development of rich oil and gas reserves in the region as a priority, including fields in the Barents Sea where many of the Belugas spend the winter.
Within a decade it could hit 150 million tonnes, the study said.
It took the White Sea ecosystem over five years to overcome the effects of a small spill in 2003, Belkovich said.
