OCEAN - Seismic Blasting - Wait, What?

On the show today Jack and Freja talk with Lisa about Seismic Testing. You might be wondering - is this a Post-Punk revival band? A cold war relic?Nope... Seismic testing is the process of locating gas and oil deposits deep beneath the ocean floor. This is done by triling an air gun off the back of a boat, which send out sonic blasts 24 hours a day, every 10 seconds, at up to 256 decibels for months at a time. To give perspective, a jet engine at 50m is 140 decibels, so it’s no longer a sound than human ears can hear, its more of a burst of energy so powerful that it kills and causes permanent and significant damage to many species of marine life. The full extent of the damage done is not known and that suits the authorites and the gas and oil industry very nicely.Not much is known about the secretive seismic tests being done offshore as most reports into are done by the fuel companies themsleves. The only reliable source of information on Ottaway testing is OCEAN, keep up to date on their events and eyes peeled for a 60 second video by young Apollo Bay filmmaker Jackson Hyett and Patagonia.If you want to look further into titles that have been given by the government and investigate these practices check the NOPTA database. And as always,