The SEA Act bill and the SECURE Act bill would give oil industries almost unregulated ability to perform Seismic surveying. The practice involves a ship firing blasts of pressurized air to create powerful sound pulses that penetrate beneath the seafloor. Below the water, the explosions sound like bombs going off every 10 to 15 seconds and can be heard as far as 1,500 miles, audio recordings show.

The testing threatens a number of species and is part of a thinly veiled oil industry wish list that would upend established protections and fast-track the permitting process for oil exploration off the Atlantic, much of Alaska and even California.

Both bills have passed committee and could head to a full vote any day. The bills follow other undoings that have prioritized oil and gas energy over conservation which is vital to the protection of endangered species.

The new bills would target the core provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which regulates seismic blasts used to locate oil and gas. The noise, scientists say, can disorient and damage the hearing of whales and dolphins so badly that they lose their ability to navigate and reproduce.

We cannot allow further offshore oil and gas exploration and development as it harms our coastal economies in the near term and opens the door to even greater risks from offshore oil and gas production down the road.

To read the full story, check out http://seavoicenews.com/2018/04/02/oil-seismic-tests-law-harms-marine-life/