August 10th, 2012
Woodside’s whale count is way too low, say gas hub opponents
The Australian
GRAHAM LLOYD
Picture: Damian Kelly Source: The Australian
MIGRATING whales and newborn calves are streaming past Woodside’s proposed $30 billion James Price Point gas hub site near Broome, eclipsing estimates in the company’s environmental impact assessment, which has received a record number of appeals.
Volunteers, co-ordinated by marine biologist Maddie Goddard, counted 1423 individual whales within 8km of the red cliff coastline in 132 hours of observation between July 1 and Tuesday.
“Those figures suggest 8600 whales would have been sighted in the migration corridor if observations had taken place around the clock,” volunteer Charlotte Buckton said.
The Woodside environmental report estimates that only 1000 whales will move through the corridor within 8km of the coast at James Price Point each season.