Reyes Reyes, M.V. (1) , Andriolo, A. (2,3), Entrup, N. (4), Weilgart, L. (4,5)
1. Fundación Cethus, Olivos, Bs.As., Argentina
2. Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental e Bioacústica, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Campus Universitário, Rua José Lourenço Kelmer, s/n - São Pedro, Juiz de Fora - MG, 36036-900, MG, Brasil.
3. Instituto Aqualie, Avenida Doutor Paulo Japiassú Coelho, 714 Salas 201 e 202 - Cascatinha, 36033-310, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brasil.
4. OceanCare, Switzerland
5. Dalhousie University, Canada
At the IWC SC68C meeting in 2021, an intersessional correspondence group was set up to work on a questionnaire that could be sent to stakeholders and used to collect information about marine seismic surveys for hydrocarbon exploration, including activities that are happening now and those that are planned for the next five years (2023–2028).
Questions will be directed to governmental agencies, private companies, non-governmental organisations, and research institutions. We aim to circulate the questionnaire through a notification from the IWC Secretariat to all IWC member states as well as other relevant international organisations, such as the CBD and CMS Secretariat, the EU Commission, and others, inviting them to ask their respective, specialised groups, such as the CMS/ACCOBAMS/ASCOBANS Joint Noise Working Group and the EU MSFD TG Noise Group, among others, to contribute information to this project.
Once all the data has been gathered, a Geographical Information System will be used to map the data, and recommendations will be made. A final document will be prepared and distributed to the IWC CC, SC, and Commission, as well as other organisations and bodies.
The aim of this questionnaire is to compile information on ongoing and planned marine seismic surveys for hydrocarbon exploration in national and international waters, in order to get a sense of the global scale, timing and locations of these activities and identify sensitive areas where potential impacts from impulsive noise on cetaceans can occur.
