An underwater natural gas pipeline project near the habitat of an endangered whale species has been approved by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, with some additional requirements, reports Caixin.
The Bryde’s whale is a type of baleen whale with a significant population around Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, off China’s southwestern coast. It is the only population of large baleen whales found in coastal waters off mainland China. It’s also a Class I protected species – China’s highest level of protection – with average annual herd size ranging from 26 to 58, Caixin notes.
According to its environmental impact assessment (EIA), the proposed 33-kilometer natural gas subsea pipeline route does not cross any areas where Bryde’s whales are densely distributed, but the whales may occasionally appear in nearby waters during construction.
In its approval notice, the ministry stated that if endangered marine animals such as Bryde’s whales are spotted, “construction must be halted immediately and may resume only after the animals have swum away”. This is a stricter requirement than what has been set out as mitigation measures in the EIA, which states that ships must slow down and keep clear of the animal, and with construction to be halted if these measures fail.
The Bryde’s whale population in China has faced increasing challenges from various human-induced activities in recent years, including whale watching. The waters around Weizhou Island are the only place in the country for this activity, and the area has risen in popularity among tourists, notes Caixin.
Whale watching has led the mammals to alter their behaviour. Research showed that whale watching led to accelerated swimming speed and respiration in minke whales in Iceland largely due to stress, increasing their energy expenditure. A study tracking one specific Bryde’s whale in China noted that whale watching decreased the mammal’s foraging frequency.
Mei Zhigang, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has proposed setting up China’s first marine protected area for baleen whales in the waters off Weizhou and Xieyang Islands. Fishing activities should be prohibited within the core region of the proposed protected area, and whale watching areas scientifically designated, he told Caixin last year.
Read Dialogue Earth’s recent story on NGOs fighting to stop reef blasting of a Chinese white dolphin habitat.