Page 46 - The Voice 2017

IAGC WEIGHS IN ON

ZOOPLANKTON STUDY

O n 22 June 2017, the IAGC The IAGC's statement issued and consistent results that can be

released
replicated and verified by other
a
statement
shortly after the paper's release
regarding the publication
interesting, we are troubled by the
best traditions of science.
of research on the interaction of states, "While we found the study independent researchers, in the
seismic surveys and zooplankton small sample sizes, the large day-
which asserts surveys kill to-day variability in both the The statement concluded by saying,
zooplankton. According to Robert baseline and experimental data, "…we remain open to all emerging
McCauley, Ryan Day, Kerrie and the large number of speculative new scientific information, after
Swadling, Quinn Fitzgibbon, Reg conclusions that appear more than 50 years of continuous
Watson and Jayson Semmens' inconsistent with the data collected seismic surveying around the
paper, "Widely used marine seismic over a two-day period. Both world, including extensive
survey air gun operations statistically and methodologically, operations in the Gulf of Mexico,
negatively impact zooplankton" this project falls short of what and over a decade of intense
which was published in the Journal would be needed to provide a scrutiny by hundreds of scientists,
Nature Ecology & Evolution, their convincing case for adverse effects there is still no scientific evidence
research presents "…evidence that from geophysical survey that sound from seismic operations
suggests seismic surveys cause operations." has negative population impacts on
significant mortality to marine life."
zooplankton populations." The statement went on to say that
although the initial report is peer-
reviewed, it has not been widely
accepted by the expert scientific
community. We look forward to
discussing this topic further with
other experts in this field to
determine the best path forward
toward more scientifically solid
46 THE VOICE