Recently, an official with the Trump administration testified repeatedly at a hearing of the House Natural Resources subcommittee that the firing of commercial air guns under water every 10 seconds over a period of months in search of oil and gas deposits would have next to no effect on endangered right whales. Right whales use echolocation to communicate, feed, mate and keep track of their babies.

Despite testimony that the loud noises caused stress in the whales, lowered resistance to disease and was likely to interfere with the reproduction of the highly endangered whales, the administration, represented by Chris Oliver, an assistant administrator for fisheries, argued that there was no conclusive evidence that the seismic testing had ever actually killed a right whale. Oliver described the noise from commercial air guns as “sub-lethal.” 

At this point, Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) pulled out an air horn and asked Oliver, “It’s fair to say seismic air gun blasting is extremely loud and disruptive … is that correct?”

“I don’t know exactly how loud it is. I actually never experienced it myself,” Oliver replied.

At that point, Cunningham gave a blast of the air horn, which reverberated in the hearing room and caused shocked gasps among the fifty or so people in the audience. Cunningham then pointed out that the sound from seismic air guns is 16,000 times louder than that of his 120-decibel air horn. 

As reported by the Washington Post: Five companies are awaiting final permits from the Interior Department to begin testing between New Jersey and Florida. An estimated 400 North Atlantic right whales, hunted to the brink of extinction, survive. A birth among the 100 mating pairs is so rare that seven calves spotted recently were celebrated as a tiny glimmer of hope.

Every governor from Massachusetts to Florida, Republicans and Democrats, stands in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposal to offer federal offshore leases along the Atlantic coast, where beach tourism thrives. The governors are backed by state attorneys general and legislators.

Even without the additional stress from the seismic testing, there is a real concern that the North Atlantic right whales are facing extinction.

Right whales and seismic blasting