Whale Survey – Minister must stop damaging gas hub proposal

Bob Brown welcomed the release today of a scientific report detailing the number of whales likely to affected by Woodside’s proposed gas factory at James Price Point, north of Broome.

The report was produced by a team of scientists from the Kimberley Community Whale Research Project.

The national Minister for the Environment has no choice but to intervene on behalf of the thousands of humpback whales now proven to use the seas off James Price Point for migration, rest and nurturing of their calves, Bob Brown said today.

‘The impact of the huge proposed port, breakwater, and dredged channel for shipping on this critical area for the whales’ life cycle is unacceptable in modern Australia where the whales are not only keenly followed by sightseers, and are a growing resource for businesses, jobs and local prosperity, but are also protected by law,’ Brown added.

‘Given the citing of the precautionary principle at the start of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and the substance of that Act which specifically protects Australia’s whales, the minister is duty bound to heed this compelling on-site scientific study and require that the area be protected.’

‘It is now impossible for any Minister for the Environment to proceed on the basis that the humpback whale herd will not be seriously disrupted by the Woodside proposal or that the consequences will not be of a magnitude at least similar to those of Japan’s illegal annual slaughter of minke whales in the Southern Ocean.’

Click on the link below for a copy of the report.

A community survey of humpback whales near James Price Point – March 2013