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Seismological Research Project Will Likely Injure or Kill Marine Mammals, Fish, Birds and Turtles

Tuesday, July 8, 2003
VICTORIA -- A massive international (US/Canada/Japan) seismological research project is planned for late August and early September, 2003, off the south coast of Vancouver Island. This project will use an extremely large air cannon, firing at a volume of 243dB. We understand that this level is higher than the seismic tests in Baja that killed beaked whales. Apparently very few people or agencies knew about this project until the past week. By all appearances, this project was greased along the review process with incomplete data and now is being hurried up to meet a very tight and fast-looming time frame. Severe trauma to marine mammals will almost certainly result from this project if it is allowed to continue as planned, including the Southern Resident Community of orcas which is listed as Depleted under the MMPA in the US and as Endangered under the SARA in Canada.

The CASSIS project
The intro says:

"On the Cascadia convergent margin, massive earthquakes of magnitude 9 or greater occur every 200-600 years, while damaging earthquakes near magnitude 7 occur approximately every 30 years. We propose a major seismological study, the CAScadia collaborative SeISmic experiment (CASSIS), to determine the structural and geodynamical controls on these major earthquakes in southwest British Columbia. We have a short window of opportunity to collaborate with Japanese seismologists, who are willing to allocate significant resources with a value of more than $2M, to a study of Cascadia. The Japanese propose to bring to Canada a modern seismic vessel and about 60 ocean bottom seismometers. We propose to support an active-source marine program with our own research vessel and personnel, and to extend the offshore survery across Vancouver Island and partly the Mainland by deploying at least 100 land seismometers to record the offshore airgun shots and about 10 large dynamite shots in drill holes on land. Complementary passive recording of small local earthquakes will be accomplished using broadband ocean-bottom and land seismometers during a three-month deployment. Earthquakes will also be recorded by the new Canadian semi-portable seismograph network POLARIS and permanent networks run by the Geological Survey of Canada and the University of Washington."

The planned explosions could seriously harm marine mammals that inhabit the south end of Vancouver Island. NOAA Fisheries started getting information about this project only about two or three weeks ago. Canadian DFO had received a permit application, apparently containing inaccurate information, and issued a permit on May 30, giving some guidance to the Canadian researchers in charge of the project including some information on safety buffer zones. DFO has since realized their error with respect to issuing the CASSIS permit, and they have now rescinded the earlier 'recomended mitigations' that they had submitted. Presumably they are now working on a much larger and more stringent set of mitigations.

A number of researchers on the US side are coming forward with information on marine mammal distribution and densities during the proposed work window and on further mitigations. At this time, it appears that the only link the US has to the project is via data collection through shore-based passive listening seismometers. The matter is being discussed at the highest levels in Washington.

The public needs to be informed that the Japanese research vessel Kairei is scheduled to arrive in Victoria on August 7 and that the work is slated to begin approximately August 27 - a time when whales (orcas, humpbacks and several other species) are known to be in the area. That leaves very little time to offer input or organize proper mitigations.

Time is of the essence.