I've been fascinated with marine life like whales and dolphins since I was a kid. Their grace and power, their beauty and intelligence, their joy and their song -- they are truly special creatures.
Now, as an adult, I feel a responsibility to do all I can to help protect ocean wildlife from environmental risks industries -- like the latest threat posed by oil companies dead set on seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean.
In case you haven't heard, for the first time in 30 years the U.S. government plans to open up the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Delaware to high-intensity seismic exploration for offshore oil and gas.
It's a disaster waiting to happen. After the BP oil spill I teamed up with NRDC and Oceana to help protect the ocean from further tragedy. In an effort to stop these seismic testing plans from happening, we've created a Facebook photo petition urging the Secretary of Interior to abandon this plan.Please "sign" the petition by adding your Facebook profile photo!
Not only is seismic testing the gateway to drilling off our coasts, it represents in itself a major assault on our oceans, with widespread harm to ocean wildlife like whales, dolphins and fish. Seismic testing in the Atlantic would expose ocean wildlife to constant dynamite-like blasts about every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for weeks and months on end. Even the government admits it could injure up to 138,500 marine mammals and disrupt marine mammal feeding, calving, breeding, and other vital activities more than 13.5 million times.
And because of the enormous distance sound can travel in the ocean, the noise from seismic testing can stretch many hundreds of miles and drive whales to abandon their habitats, go silent, and cease foraging over vast areas of ocean. At shorter distances, it can cause permanent hearing loss, injury, and death.
It would also harm our multi-billion dollar fishing, tourism, and recreational industries that support hundreds of thousands of American jobs. All of this just to make it easier for oil companies to find new sites in our oceans for offshore drilling.
And that just breaks my heart.
The upside though is that we can do something about it. If enough people add their photo to the petition, the Secretary of the Interior will have to take notice. It's not too late to turn this thing around.
If you're not on Facebook, you can also sign our traditional-style petition here.Every signature counts!
This post originally appeared in OnEarth magazine.