Environmental campaigners are reporting the British Government to the European Commission for breaching EU laws and driving sperm whales like Moby to their death, they announced today. The move could lead to Britain facing the European Court of Justice if the Commission backs the claim. Greenpeace has also written to Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth calling for an inquiry into Moby's death.
Ministers' failure to comply with rules on oil drilling might have killed the sperm whale, who died after becoming trapped earlier this week, the campaigners believe. Greenpeace and other pressure groups believe the Government is flouting an 1985 EU directive, by failing to ensure that legally-required environmental impact assessments were carried out before drilling began in the Atlantic. One of their concerns is that the noise of drilling disorientates sperm whales, who can then get lost and die if they flounder into shallow water. Moby died in the Firth of Forth last Monday after being trapped for two weeks, and was taken to a council landfill site today.
Greenpeace's letter to Mr Forsyth warned that more whales would die and called for an urgent inquiry into Moby's death.
"It is scandalous that the Government is giving out licences for drilling without these assessments," said Greenpeace spokesperson Mirella Lindenfels. "Whales are very sensitive to noise, and experts believe that the industrial noise of drilling is putting them off course. "Something is clearly driving sperm whales off course in increasing numbers, and we are calling for an urgent investigation."
She added: "Quite apart from that, we believe the Government is acting illegally in granting these licences without carrying out assessments.
"It is irresponsible, because we don't even yet know what lives in these waters. They are so deep that we have no idea, and we don't understandwhat we are doing."
Under the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, member states should have instituted regulations for dealing with offshore oil and gas activities by July 1988. But the British Government has not yet incorporated the directive into domestic law.