BySarahBrown

UNCCHNewsBureau

CoastalNorthCarolinaresidentswhohavescannedtheexpanseofsoftlywavingoceanwaters
duringwinterandearlyspringmighthavecaughtaglimpseofaNorthAtlanticrightwhalethe
sleek,59footlong,70tonmammalsaredifficulttomiss.
Buttherearefewerthan500ofthemleft.Theyreoneofthemostendangeredwhalespeciesin
theworld.AndNorthCarolinamighthavearoletoplayinreversingthattrend.
Someoftheareaspopulatedbyendangeredspeciesliketherightwhalearefederally
designatedasacriticalhabitat,wherespecialeffortsaremadetoprotecttheenvironmentto
ensuretheirsurvival.TheNationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(NOAA)ishoping
toexpandthecriticalhabitatofrightwhalestobettersupportpopulationgrowthandNorth
Carolinascentrallocationandshallow,coolwatersareidealforwhalemothersandtheirkin.
NorthCarolinaisjustsmackdabinthemiddlefortherightwhale,saidWilliamMcLellan,a
researchassociateatUNCWilmingtonwhosstudiedthespeciesfor30years.Wehave
evidenceofthemcalvinghere.Itsbeenoneofthesethingsthatjustneedstobeaddressed.
Ifthechangesareapproved,thewhalescriticalhabitatwouldcoverabout30,000squaremiles,
comparedwith5,000currently.NOAAjustcompletedapubliccommentperiodontheproposed
expansionandhopestohavenewmapsforthehabitatinplacebyFebruary2016.
Thecriticalhabitatlabeldoesntpreventpotentiallyharmfulactivityordevelopmentfrom
occurringbutitcanslowtheprocess.
Itisntahammerthatyoucangoinanduseandhavethingsstophappening,saidMcLellan.
Itjustheightenstheawarenessthattheresgoingtobeanimalsinthatarea.
Inparticular,offshoreenergydevelopmentintheAtlanticOceanwouldposeaseriousthreatto
therightwhale,McLennansaid.Hesaidthenoisyseismiccannonsusedbyenergycompanies
tohuntforoilcoulddeafenthespeciesandfurtherreduceitsnumbers.
Therightwhaletokill
TherightwhalehasbeenonNorthCarolinaresearchersagendasincethe1980s,whenthere
wereconcernsthatithadgoneextinct.Therearenowsubstantialrecordsanddatacoveringthe
whales,andtechnologicaladvanceshavemadeiteasiertotrackthem.
Therightwhalehasbeenintheareaforcenturies,thoughitgotitsnameforthewrongreasons.
Theyhavebeenhistoricallyknownastherightwhalebecausetheyweretherightwhaleto
kill,saidDougNowacek,aprofessoratDukeUniversitywhosbasedattheschoolsmarinelab
inBeaufort,twohoursnortheastofWilmington.

Today,therightwhaledoesntfacepoachingforitsblubberorbonesasfrequently.More
pertinentproblemsfortheslowmovingmammalincludeentanglingthemselvesinfishing
equipmentandbeinghitbyshipsorlargeboats.
In2008,NOAAsetspeedlimitsonallvesselstravelingthroughtheseareasandestablished
finesforviolators.McLellansaidtherehavebeennodocumentedrightwhaledeathsduetoship
strikesintheU.S.sincetherulestookeffect.
ButthepotentialforoilandwindexplorationofftheEastCoastisposingafreshsetofworries
forMcLellan,Nowacekandothers.Environmentaladvocatesandresearchersareconcerned
thatawaveofenergydevelopmentscouldputtherightwhalebackonthepathtoextinction.
Myfeelingaboutallthisisthatwereallyhavetohavemoreofaconversationthanhasbeen
hadalreadyasfaras,whatarethepotentialthreats,what'sgoingonoffshore,whatdowe
knowabouttheoffshoreresources?Nowaceksaid.
Blastscouldcauseharm
RightwhalesdontpermanentlystayinNorthCarolinatheymigrateupanddownthecoast
eachyear,seekingwarmersouthernwatersinthewinterandcoolernorthernregionsinthe
summer.MothersoftengivebirthandstayneartheN.C.shoreduringthenineto12month
nursingperiodforwhalecalves.
Someoftheseareashavealsobeenpinpointedforoilexplorationaprocessthatrequires
shootingseismicsoundsthatpenetratetheoceanfloorandindicatewhetheroilliesbelow.
Duringsurveys,theblastsgooffevery10seconds,andtheymightpersistfordaysorweeks.
RightwhalesontheEastCoasthaveneverbeenexposedtoseismicblasts,Nowaceksaid,and
thesoundsareloudenoughtodeafenwhaleswhichisofparticularconcernbecauseright
whalesrelyonhearingtotravel,eatandfindeachother.
Evenifdrillingprojectswerepositionedmilesoffshore,Nowaceksaidstudieshaveshownthat
intenseseismicsoundscantravelnearly4,000kilometers,orabout2,500miles.
Hesaidthereisevidencethatseismicsurveyselsewherehavenegativelyaffectedwhales
foragingrate,ameasureofhowananimalmaximizesitsenergythroughfoodintakeandeffort
putintoobtainthefood.
Theresclearlyarelationshipthere,hesaid.Howlongwouldthatpersist?Wouldthewhales
getusedtoit?Wedontknow.
Someprodrillingadvocatesarguethattheseismicblastsarentendangeringthewhales.They
pointtotheGulfofMexico,wheresurveyshavebeenconductedforyearsandyettheregion
stillplayshosttospermwhales.

TheAmericanPetroleumInstitutebelievesthattheeconomicbenefitsofdrillingaremuch
greaterthantherisksitposestomarinelife.Theinstituteconductedstudiesonthepotentialfor
oilintheAtlanticregion,anditsresearcherssaythatcoastalexplorationcouldyield55,000jobs
andraise$4billionforNorthCarolinaby2035.
ThegroupalsoconductedapollinJanuarythatfoundthat71percentofthestatesresidents
supportoffshoredrilling.
WecouldbringmorethantensofthousandsofgoodpayingjobstoNorthCarolinaand
diversifyoureconomysimplybyallowingmoreoilandnaturalgasproductiontooccurinour
stateandoffourshores,saidDavidMcGowan,executivedirectoroftheNorthCarolina
PetroleumCouncil,thestateschapterofAPI,inanemail.
Nowacekcontendsthatittakesusalongtimetofigurethingsout,soitsnotpossibletoknow
theextentofseismicsurveysimpactonwhalespecies.
Weneedtothink,isthisthewisestwaytomoveforward,developingthisarea?hesaid.
Forwhales,manyunknowns
Therightwhaleisonanupwardtrendwithrespecttopopulationgrowthitsnumbershave
doubledinthepast30years,McLellansaid.Andhesaidthecriticalhabitatexpansionwouldbe
anotherpositivestep.Still,rightwhalebirthratesaren'thighenoughtotakethespeciesoffof
theendangeredlist.
Meanwhile,thepushtoexpanddrillingopportunitiesintheAtlanticisbuilding.
OurgrowthasaglobalenergysuperpowerhasbeenagamechangerforU.S.energysecurity,
creatinghundredsofthousandsofAmericanjobsandsendingmorerevenuestoour
government,saidHazemArafa,directorofthestatisticsdepartmentattheAmericanPetroleum
Institute,inanemail.
Wecantexpectthatgrowthtocontinueifourownoutdatedenergypoliciesstandintheway.
NorthCarolinalawmakershavebeenlobbyingtomoveexplorationforwardforyears.The
Obamaadministrationhascomeoutinfavorofallowingoilandgasexploration,announcing
earlierthisyearthatitwouldopenthedoorforincreasedseismictestingintheAtlantic.
NorthCarolinaGov.PatMcCrorywantstogoastepfurtherhetestifiedbeforeCongressin
midApril,arguingthatObamasproposed50milebufferzonefromtheshorewouldrestrict
drillingfornoreason.Thatbufferincludestheshallowwatersfrequentedbytherightwhale.
Fornow,McLellansaidtoomanyunknownssurrounddrilling,includinghowmuchoilactually
existsbelowtheAtlanticandhowtheextractionprocess,particularlytheseismicairguns,will
affecttherightwhaleandothermarinelife.Thesamegoesforotherprojects,likewindenergy.

Icantsayforsurehowamothercalfwhalepairisgoingtobehavewhentheycomeuptoa
largescalewinddevelopment,McLellansaid.Ihopewewontseethosekindsofenergy
developmentswithoutsomereallyclear,thoughtfuldiscussions.