policy letter
opposition to oil exploration in gray whale feeding areas
followup note - Unfortunately Russia's Sakhalin Island continues to attract the energy industry - see the September 2004 Conservation Report - More 
The American Cetacean Society, the oldest whale and dolphin conservation organization in the world, supports the protection of all cetaceans, their environment, and the marine ecosystems they inhabit. Ecosystem protection and the preservation of biological diversity, both marine and terrestrial, are interdependent. Therefore our organization is opposed to the oil exploration activities Exxon Neftegas Limited is conducting in the Western gray whales' only known Spring/Autumn feeding areas near Sakhalin Island.
Activities such as blasting have been proven to displace gray whales from their primary feeding grounds during a crucial time period, when they need to replace their severely depleted blubber stores after the breeding season. In addition, the extraction activities Exxon Neftegas Limited are pursuing, such as building giant oil drilling piers and pipelines in the middle of the whales' feeding grounds, is very disruptive and a profound threat to this highly endangered population of possibly less than 100 animals.
ACS urges you to cease all harmful and disruptive blasting and extraction activities in the feeding grounds and migratory corridors of the Western gray whales, off Sakhalin Island, in the Chaivo and Odoptu Fields. The survival of the entire Western gray whale population is of far more lasting importance than the short-term production of oil.
Respectfully,
Bonnie Gretz
American Cetacean Society National Conservation Chair
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