Trump Paves Way for Air Guns to Search for Atlantic Oil
- Agency move advances first-in-generation seismic surveys
- Opponents say whales, dolphins could suffer irreversible harm
Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg
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The Trump administration on Friday paved the way for a first-in-decades sonic search for oil and gas under Atlantic waters with companies using loud air gun blasts that conservationists say threaten to harm whales, dolphins and other animals.
The National Marine Fisheries Service issued “incidental harassment authorizations” permitting seismic surveys proposed by five companies to disturb marine mammals that are otherwise protected by federal law. The approvals allow the companies to incidentally -- but not intentionally -- harass marine mammals in conducting the geophysical surveys.