CSOs question official response to whale deaths

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have expressed “regret” at the denial by the Environmental Protection Agency and others that the oil industry has something to do with the reported death of whales in Ghanaian waters.

In a joint press statement, the CSOs – WACAM, the Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis and the Centre for Public Interest Law, among others – questioned the scientific basis on which the EPA stood and declared that the death of the whales was a global phenomenon and that offshore oil activities in Ghana had nothing to do with the deaths.

In the wake of the reported cases of death whales being washed ashore coastal Ghana, the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, the Fisheries Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), all issued statements, denying that offshore petroleum activities were to blame.

The official response, on the one hand, said the whales “might have died in other countries’ waters” and on the other, said, the dead whales “were in a decomposed state and, therefore, samples could not be taken for laboratory analysis to ascertain the cause of death.”

This sparked controversy in the public sphere, with some members of the public saying that government officials appeared more concerned about protecting their image than working to establish the true cause of the whale deaths.

“The cause of death of the whales is not due to negligence or inaction on the part of competent authorities responsible for the regulation and management of the Ghanaian marine waters,” the government response said in part.

Kean Keag, Vice President and Country Manager of Kosmos Energy, one of the Jubilee Field partners, also denied that their operations have anything to do with the whales’ death, saying in an interview with the B&FT that Tullow Oil, operator of the Jubilee Oilfields, have been taking stringent measures to protect marine life.

“We believe the issue with whales and dolphins is actually not just a local issue; it is more of a global issue. The information that is coming to light indicates that there may be some sort of viral element associated with this,” he said.

“Obviously Tullow is the operator of the FPSO and has been very stringent in ensuring that that operation is fully and completely environmentally responsible, and we have every belief that operation is having no impact in that particular arena. So we are interested to know the conclusion. We are monitoring our operation to absolutely ensure that there is no impact on marine life. We are very sensitive to that.”

The CSOs insist, however, that government and industry players have not offered a credible explanation and so must come again.

“We find it strange that to date EPA, Fisheries Commission and the Petroleum Commission as well as the Jubilee partners have not been able to offer any credible explanation on the exact causes of death of the whales.”

Five dead whales in three days were seen at different locations in coastal Ghana over the past couple of weeks, bringing to an estimated 16 the total number of dead whales seen since oil exploration and production activities heightened in the country.

While industry players often hesitant to admit the extent to which their activities impact the environment, independent research suggests the impact could be far-reaching.

The potential impact of offshore oil and gas development on marine mammals has been the focus of extensive research during the mid-1980s. A study by Richardson et al. (1989), revealed that offshore oil and gas operations affects whales in two ways; the first one relates to whale responses to noise associated with offshore operations and the second focusing on oil contamination of whales or their habitat.