CRI听力: Dolphins in Scottland

A pod of more than 130 dolphins has lived in the Moray Firth in northeast Scotland for decades. Now the UK government is considering carrying out seismic testing there, with a view to setting up new oil and gas rigs in the area. These bottle-nosed dolphins may be under threat from oil and gas exploration work.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

Reporter: The bottlenose dolphins of the Moray Firth are the most studied and famous in the UK. They are also among the largest dolphins in the world.

Charlie Phillips, a longtime member of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, or WDCS, has been studying the bottle-nosed dolphins for 20 years.

"The bottle-nosed dolphins that we have in the Moray Firth are a resident population. To have them as far north as this is relatively rare, so it's an ideal opportunity for studying an animal that's living on the edge of its natural habitat."

Phillips believes the dolphins not only serve as an educational tool for conservationists, but also bring a great deal of money into the local economy. He stresses that even without the threat of new oil and gas exploration, the animals are incredibly vulnerable.

"It wouldn't take much to tip these animals over the edge. All that would have to happen would be some natural disaster or some man-made disaster - for instance a big oil spill. A big oil spill would affect the fish and that would directly affect the dolphins. If dolphins swam through any oil - that's a carcinogenic substance - it would be catastrophic in the long term. In the short term, man-made noise - too much interference in their realm - really is the problem."

Five years ago the waters around Chanonry Point and parts of the Moray Firth were designated a Special Area of Conservation under the EU Habitats directive to protect the bottle-nosed dolphin.

The WDCS has been monitoring the dolphins for five years. They say exploratory work would involve seismic testing, which includes explosions, drilling and the installment of rigs.

Sarah Dolman, the WDCS Head of Policy for Scotland, says seismic surveys would be disastrous for the dolphins, because sonic pulses are shot from huge air guns mounted on research ships and penetrate the seabed.

Her concern is that this would have a negative impact on the dolphins, who use sonar to communicate and navigate.

"It's not just the seismic surveys of course, because they happen over a series of months, whereas once the oil rig is in place, the drilling and the ship maintenance, the coming and going, the remote possibility of oil spills, mean that for decades ahead the impact on the dolphins could be irreversible."

According to Dolman, 25, international marine experts have raised similar concerns. She believes that economic development should go hand in hand with environmental protection.

"For us as a conservation organization the environment comes first, but Scotland as a country has to balance its economy and its social considerations with its environment. Without the natural environment, what kind of place would Scotland be? We just hope that the government will make the right decisions, so that we can have a healthy economy, but also a healthy and thriving marine environment."

The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change is responsible for the final decision on seismic testing. A decision from the DECC is expected in June this year.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.