By Graeme Strachan

A MARINE mammal expert from Virginia has joined campaigners in attacking government plans that could affect the River Tay’s bottlenose dolphin population.

The government announced that huge areas of UK marine territory are to be offered for licensing for oil and gas exploration—including the Moray Firth.

Campaigners say even more bottlenose dolphins could begin appearing in the River Tay from the Moray Firth as they will be driven from their habitat because of exploration work.

But conservationists also said the activities could kill the species before they make it down the east coast.

Professor Chris Parsons—a marine mammal expert at George Mason University in Virginia and research associate of the University Marine Biological Station Millport—has joined the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society in criticising the government’s plans.

“This mass allocation of oil and gas licences is very worrying,” he said. “The scientific assessment of the impact of such large-scale seismic activity is limited.

“In particular there is little consideration of the cumulative impacts of so much high intensity noise in the marine environment, in areas that we know have high densities of conservation priority marine mammal species.”

WDCS recently began a petition to stop oil and gas exploration in the Moray Firth.

The cleaner waters of the Tay off Broughty Ferry seem to have acted as a magnet for increasing numbers of the Moray Firth’s dolphins and minke whales.

WDCS has highlighted that areas under offer include some of the most important habitats for whales and dolphins in northern Europe.

These include the Outer Hebrides, parts of the Moray Firth and the Irish Sea, including parts of Cardigan Bay in Wales.

“WDCS is concerned that the government is not taking its responsibilities to dolphins, and to other marine life, seriously,” said WDCS’s director of science Mark Simmonds.

“We have yet to see any genuine attempts to offer real protection to the UK’s whales and dolphins.

“This sudden fast-tracking of oil and gas activities does not seem to be joined-up government thinking.

“We are imminently expecting the government to announce its long-awaited plans for a marine bill but meanwhile we are faced with a huge potential and ill thought through increase in the offshore fossil fuel industry.”

WDCS has criticised comments made by secretary of state John Hutton that the government has “been careful to avoid harming dolphins and other sea life that thrive in these areas in the past and will continue to do so.”

The conservation charity believes this statement lacks scientific support and recent research indicates seismic surveys used by the industry produce much higher frequencies than previously reported.

They are therefore likely to impact on more species of whales, dolphins and porpoises and at considerable distances.

Mitigation methods meant to protect whales and dolphins remain untested.

WDCS launched a campaign calling on the government not to allow proposed oil and gas development in a Special Area for Conservation (SAC) established for bottlenose dolphins living in the Moray Firth.

The charity is calling on people to have an input in the government’s public consultation for these plans—due to end on March 14—by signing their petition at www.protectourdolpins.org