Endangered Whales and Dolphins at Risk from Proposed Gas Exploration in Mediterranean Year-Round: Study

New Research Reveals Year-Round Presence of Four Cetacean Species, Including Endangered Sperm Whales, in Mediterranean Zone Proposed for Seismic Surveys and Gas Exploration, Prompting Environmental Groups to Call for Abandonment of Offshore Drilling Plans.

• The Greenpeace Research Laboratories, University of Exeter, Greenpeace Greece and the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute discovered year-round residency of endangered whales and dolphins, including the sperm whale, in a key Mediterranean habitat—designated for oil and gas exploration.
• The Hellenic Trench, under consideration for oil/gas exploration and seismic surveys, supports a significant population of whales and dolphins, illustrating the ecological importance of the region.
• Multiple threats like fishing, pollution, climate change, and especially man-made noise from seismic surveys and gas exploration, could jeopardize these marine species, which already face devastating threats—such as ship strikes and bycatches.
• These findings intensify environmentalists' opposition to the proposed plan for offshore drilling and seismic surveys, showing that these activities conflict with conservation efforts and pose a risk to key Mediterranean wildlife.
• Greenpeace has urged the Greek government to abandon the offshore gas drilling plans—the impact on sea mammals could be much greater than initially predicted, and could oppose collective efforts against the climate crisis. Greenpeace also revealed that despite ratified safeguard measures that limit seismic surveys to winter seasons, certain cetacean species are present throughout the year.

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