The Great Australian Bight is one of the most amazing marine environments on the planet – wild, unpolluted and home to whales, sea lions, sharks and albatross. The Bight is a calving and nursery ground for the endangered southern right whale, and home to some of the last colonies of endangered sea lions. But all of this could be put at risk, if the Australian Government allows drilling for oil and gas. Offshore and deepwater oil and gas drilling is already dangerous, but the remote and harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean make this a disaster waiting to happen.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society is proud to be part of the Great Australian Bight Alliance of concerned community groups opposing the dangerous and damaging exploration and drilling for oil and gas. Nobody will forget the devastation and heartbreak, the environmental and human cost of the BP Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now BP and other companies are proposing to drill for oil and gas off Australia’s South coast in the Great Australian Bight. Independent expert modelling shows that if a blowout and oil spill were to occur, the environmental devastation could impact as far away as Western Australia or the Victorian and Tasmanian coastline depending on the time of year and weather conditions.
In the Gulf of Mexico disaster 11 people lost their lives, 4.9 million barrels of oil spewed into the oceans, countless animals were killed, and tourism and fishing industries were decimated. The Great Australian Bight region supports tourism, fisheries and coastal communities. There are also the very real impacts of seismic testing, underwater noise, increased shipping risking animal strike, pollution and biosecurity hazards. It is also important to consider the climate change impacts of extracting this massive and previously untouched source of greenhouse gas emissions. Science tells us that we need to be leaving these kinds of fossil fuels in the ground and switching to a renewable energy future, and we know the pristine Southern Ocean and coast is just too special to be put at risk. BP’s plans for the Bight are all risk and no gain for Australia. Please help stop the madness and let the Australian Government know you do not want to see oil and gas mining in the Great Australian Bight. Please act now – sign the petition!