The extraordinary subsea communication sounds of Rice’s whales and the impact of oil and gas surveying have been published in a new graphic by The New York Times.
There are fewer than 100 Rice’s whales in existence, and they live in the Gulf of Mexico where air guns are used to survey for oil and gas. The low-frequency air gun blasts overlap with the sounds of the Rice’s whales. Scientists say the noise - louder than shipping, which is also a contributor – could have a detrimental impact on the whale population’s ability to find food and to mate.
The graphic shows how the concentration of oil and gas surveys has forced the Rice’s whales into a more confined area of shallower water off the Florida coast.
The graphic shows how the sound waves fired by an air gun in 2021 travelled more than 620 miles at depths of 65 to 3,280 feet. It illustrates the intense sound impact of constant surveying in the Gulf of Mexico between May and September 2023.
A federal analysis last year found that continuous surveying was likely to jeopardise the continued existence of the Rice’s whale. Yet the Trump administration waived restrictions on oil and gas surveying under the Endangered Species Act.
View The New York Times graphic here.
