{"id":211237,"date":"2021-12-11T10:12:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T08:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=111278"},"modified":"2021-12-11T10:12:28","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T08:12:28","slug":"coastal-communities-rally-in-their-objection-to-shells-seismic-surveys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/coastal-communities-rally-in-their-objection-to-shells-seismic-surveys\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal communities rally in their objection to Shell\u2019s seismic surveys"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last Sunday (5, December 2021) saw thousands of South Africans gathering along the coastline to object to Royal Dutch Shell\u2019s seismic surveying on the Wild Coast. Forming part of this nationwide gathering \u2013 in coalition with Oceans Not Oil \u2013 was the KZN Mid-South Coast Ocean Supporters NPO (KMOS) which called on residents of Umkomaas, Scottburgh and Pennington to join in the action.<\/p>\n

Central to the objection is Shell\u2019s 3D seismic survey of an area from Morgan Bay to Port St Johns which will map out potential oil and gas deposits using military-grade seismic cannons (or \u2018airguns\u2019). These guns will fire deafening shock-wave emissions of over 200 decibels every 10 seconds, for 24 hours a day and will continue to do so for the next five months \u2013 with potentially devasting results for the marine animals and ecologically sensitive coastal areas.<\/p>\n

Coming in the wake of COP26 and the global call to reduce by carbon emissions by moving away from non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels, South Africans are uniting in the call to halt such environmentally destructive methods. The Sunday gathering, which extended from Richards Bay in northern KZN through to Port Edward on the Eastern Cape border, is part of a multi-pronged approach at impeding the seismic survey. Civil society, local businesses and residents are all rallying to prevent activities that could impact, not only the sensitive marine ecology, but livelihoods dependent on the ocean as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so overwhelmed at the support we saw from our communities on Sunday and would like to sincerely thank everyone who came out to voice our collective outcry that our very own legal system has failed us,\u201d said Claire Taylor, co-founder of the KZN Mid-South Coast Ocean Supporters NPO (KMOS), organiser of the event (in coalition with Oceans Not Oil). \u201cIt is now condoning of \u2018less-than-ethical loopholes\u2019 to continue against the backdrop our climate crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are already seeing the devastating results of climate change throughout the world, and yet such backwards-thinking, profit-driven, fossil fuel exploration will still continue to deplete our oceans of their resources, and the very lifeblood of planet earth. Are we beyond the tipping point?\u201d
Taylor explained that the blasting has already begun \u2013 as has the annual whale migration to the south. However, Shell claims that there\u2019s no harm and the whale can alter a migration course which has served the ecosystem for millions of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sound emissions will result in juveniles not being able to suckle because they will be separated from the mother due to these detrimental human causes,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe cannot simply sit back and watch capitalistic exploits kill what we desperately need to save. We are calling on our international stakeholders to put pressure on the South African government and its corporate counterparts to hold them accountable for the hefty promises made at Cop26 hardly a month ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also cited the multi-billion dollar grant earmarked for South Africa\u2019s transition to clean energy: \u201cImagine our dismay at the arrival of the Amazon Warrior, chugging along to blast away intricate ecosystems in not one, but four MPA\u2019s (Marine Protected Areas) situated within the 6 000km2 destruction area of the Wild Coast.\u201d
The KZN Mid-South Coast gathering included objections on the shore, on the water and in the air. Ocean lovers and marine-based businesses went out onto the water, with World of Wings\u2019 aircraft flying overhead in an aeronautical display of support and capturing the event from above. Even the marine life came out in full force of the objection with dolphins swimming in among surfers and paddlers on the backline of Scottburgh Beach.<\/p>\n

The seismic survey, which is being conducted by the research vessel, Amazon Warrior, owned by Shearwater GeoServices, initiated its blasting of around 250 decibels starting last week. If not stopped, the vessel will blast along the Wild Coast for five months before continuing for a further five months in the Eastern Cape from Gqeberha to Plettenburg Bay.<\/p>\n

The initial survey area \u2013 Transkei Block Exploration Right \u2013 covers more than 6 000 km2 of ocean surface and is home to four of South Africa\u2019s 41 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These protect unique marine biodiversity with a high number of species found nowhere else in the world. The impacts of the sound from the seismic survey travels great distances through water, meaning that the marine life in the MPAs may be impacted.<\/p>\n

Liz McDaid from The Green Connection reiterated the concerns, stating: \u201cWe don\u2019t need to explore the oceans for oil or gas \u2013 we need to move to renewables because of climate change. Seismic surveys are a precursor to drilling and exploration, and we don\u2019t need that either. The effect of sound on various marine ecosystems is well-known in terms of damage to different species and, from a precautionary principle, we should have a moratorium on all seismic surveys along the South African coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, contact:
Claire Taylor: 076 503 7895
Claire.ht431@gmail.com
This is a constantly evolving story so keep updated by checking the Facebook page \u2018Mid to South Coast KZN Say NO to seismic surveys\u2019 and follow these hashtags on social media:<\/p>\n

#oceansnotoil
#tohellwithshell
#savethewildcoast
#phantsikweShell (down with shell)
#shukumoshalwandle (don\u2019t destroy the sea)
#Shellimoshindalo (shell is destroying the environment)
#sukumoshindaloyethu (don\u2019t destroy our env)
#asifuniseismicblasting (we don\u2019t want seismic blasting)
#shellakungenwaapha (shell is not allowed to enter here)
*Sources: www.saambr.org.za; www.naturaljustice.org.za<\/p>\n

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Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Sunday (5, December 2021) saw thousands of South Africans gathering along the coastline to object to Royal Dutch Shell\u2019s seismic surveying on the Wild Coast. Forming part of this nationwide gathering \u2013 in coalition with Oceans Not Oil \u2013 was the KZN Mid-South Coast Ocean Supporters NPO (KMOS) which called on residents of Umkomaas, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":211238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-211237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/coastal-communities-rally-in-their-objection-to-shells-seismic-surveys.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}