Senate Inquiry - Save Our Coast

Senate Inquiry into Seismic Testing

A Senate Inquiry is underway into the impacts of seismic testing on fisheries and marine life. Save Our Coast submitted a formal submission to the Inquiry, and successfully lobbied for a Central Coast public hearing, due to be held in Terrigal in March 2020, at which Save Our Coast was invited to speak. Due to COVD 19 unfortunately all events were cancelled (including our 2 year anniversary celebration and the Surfing with Senator Whish Wilson event, both expected to have had large gatherings and to raise awareness for the Senate Inquiry Hearing) and the Senate Inquiry postponed.

Save Our Coast also facilitated public submissions to the Senate Inquiry holding community information events, films screenings and submission writing sessions which were attended collectively by thousands, and generated much media interest. The submission period has now closed: thank you to all who participated and spoke up to stop the devastating and harmful blasting for oil or gas that is seismic testing.

Why did we get involved?

Seismic testing is devastating, intense and explosive underwater airgun blasts that fire every few seconds 24 hours day for days weeks or months on end, to locate oil or gas under the sea bed. Known to be up to 257 decibels and detected thousands of kilometres away these intense blasts have been shown to kill krill and plankton a kilometre away, and cause torment, hearing impairment and injury, sometimes lethal, to marine creatures including fish, octopus, lobsters, scallops, turtles, dolphins and whales.

Seismic blasting is an inhumane and destructive process of searching for fossil fuels that torments and harms marine life who depend on sound to survive under the ocean. We welcome the Senate Inquiry and hope legislation will be implemented to stop seismic testing.

This deliberate destruction of the marine ecosystem and the tormenting of marine life has to end, hence the reason for the Stop Seismic Testing campaign, now evolved in to the not-for profit Save Our Coast.

The Senate inquiry Hearing:

The huge community movement, and the incredible and moving Umina Beach (Central Coast) Save Our Coast Hands Across the Sand event (May 2019) where 1-2 thousand of us held hands for over 1.5 km along the beach, in a huge display of community support for our campaign to stop seismic testing and save our coast, helped secure the federal Inquiry Hearing location at the Central Coast. (We had chosen Umina as it is in the middle of the PEP 11 zone and in a marginal electorate.)

Thank you to all who stood beside us to save our precious marine animals from the harm that is seismic testing, and helped secure the location of the Inquiry at the Central Coast.

We succeeded in stopping the further planned seismic testing off our coast, but while PEP 11 is still active, oil and gas companies can reinstate seismic testing at any time.

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Senate Inquiry into Seismic Testing

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