| | Report of the Independent Scientific Review Panel on the |
| | 2,04 | | MB | Impacts of Sakhalin II Phase 2 on Western North Pacific Gray |
| | 131 | | stron | Whales and Related Biodiversity |
| | 4822 | | ID | World Conservation Union |
| | 2005 | | rok |
| | CONTENTS |
| | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.3 |
| | 1 BACKGROUND.3 |
| | 2 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS3 |
| | 3 REVIEW OF INDIVIDUAL THREATS AND PROPOSED MEASURES 5 |
| | 4 INFORMATION GAPS AND ESSENTIAL MONITORING.7 |
| | 5 THE NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO SAVE WESTERN GRAY WHALES AND |
| | THEIR HABITAT.8 |
| | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS9 |
| | CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION.10 |
| | 1 BACKGROUND.10 |
| | 2 TERMS OF REFERENCE10 |
| | 3 PROCESS FOLLOWED.11 |
| | CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF KNOWLEDGE ON WESTERN GRAY WHALES.14 |
| | 4 POPULATION IDENTITY 14 |
| | 5 DISTRIBUTION, MIGRATION, MOVEMENT.14 |
| | 6 SAKHALIN HABITAT 15 |
| | 7 FEEDING ECOLOGY16 |
| | 8 HEALTH.16 |
| | 9 ABUNDANCE AND BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS.19 |
| | 10 INFORMATION NEEDS .21 |
| | CHAPTER III: GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PRESENT AND PROPOSED OIL AND GAS |
| | ACTIVITIES IN THE SAKHALIN REGION 25 |
| | 1 OVERVIEW25 |
| | 2 PRESENT AND PROPOSED OFFSHORE ACTIVITIES25 |
| | CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION OF ACTUAL AND POTENTIAL THREATS TO WESTERN GRAY |
| | WHALES FROM PROPOSED OIL AND GAS ACTIVITIES29 |
| | 1 NOISE.29 |
| | 2 COLLISIONS41 |
| | 3 OIL AND GAS SPILLS AND ACCIDENTS 47 |
| | 4 ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL CHANGES TO HABITAT 65 |
| | CHAPTER V: FACTORS POTENTIALLY AFFECTING THE SURVIVAL OF WESTERN GRAY |
| | WHALES IN ADDITION TO THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH SAKHALIN OIL AND GAS |
| | DEVELOPMENT 72 |
| | 1 DIRECT CATCHES .72 |
| | 2 BYCATCHES IN FISHING GEAR72 |
| | 3 VESSEL COLLISIONS 72 |
| | 4 DISEASE, TOXIC ALGAL BLOOMS AND EXPOSURE TO CONTAMINANTS72 |
| | 5 PREDATION 72 |
| | CHAPTER VI: CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF THE FACTORS DISCUSSED UNDER CHAPTERS IV & |
| | V.74 |
| | 1 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.74 |
| | 2 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES.74 |
| | 3 RECEPTORS (WHALES) AND THEIR RESPONSES 75 |
| | 4 MAGNITUDE OF EFFECTS AND THEIR INTERACTIONS 75 |
| | CHAPTER VII: USE OF SIMULATION MODELLING TO ASSESS THE IMPLICATIONS OF |
| | VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL AND OTHER SCENARIOS ON WESTERN GRAY WHALE SURVIVAL |
| | AND RECOVERY.80 |
| | 1 INTRODUCTION.80 |
| | 2 ADDITIONAL DEATHS .84 |
| | 3 IMPACTS ON FEEDING AND REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS .84 |
| | CHAPTER VIII: OVERALL CONCLUSIONS.94 |
| | 1 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS AND MODELLING (CHAPTERS VI AND VII) .94 |
| | 2 NOISE (SEE CHAPTER IV, ITEM 1).95 |
| | 3 COLLISIONS/SHIP STRIKES (SEE CHAPTER IV, ITEM 2).96 |
| | 4 OIL EXPOSURE (SEE CHAPTER IV, ITEM 3) 96 |
| | 5 PHYSICAL DISTURBANCE (SEE CHAPTER IV, ITEM 4) 97 |
| | 6 PIPELINE SITING DECISION97 |
| | 7 ADEQUACY OF DOCUMENTATION.97 |
| | 8 INFORMATION GAPS AND ESSENTIAL MONITORING.97 |
| | 9 THE NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO SAVE WESTERN GRAY WHALES AND |
| | THEIR HABITAT.98 |