Ghana denies oil exploration link to whales’ deaths

Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency has debunked claims in some quarters that the recent string of whale deaths was due to oil drilling activities at the Jubilee Oil Field.
Six whales were reported to have been washed ashore on September 1, an incident some have ascribed to oil exploration.
Some Ghanaian experts who reacted to the incident have linked it to poor environmental impact assessment on the field before commencement of drilling activities.
But Ghana’s EPA Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Angelina Mensah, in a statement in Accra, described the death of the whales as a global phenomenon.
The statement quoted Mensah as saying that a plethora of reasons could be given for the recent occurrence other than oil exploration activities.
She said: “On Thursday September 5, a similar incident occurred in the U.S. In the past four months, 10 whales have been reportedly washed ashore in different locations around the world.
“Between February 2011 and September 2013, 120 different whales have been reportedly washed ashore, and none of these incidents was as a result of oil exploration.”
Mensah pointed out that injuries from predators and collision with marine vessels could also be possible causes of the recent death of whales.
She added: “We have to understand that when marine vessels make huge noise, such noise does not only affect humans, it also affects marine lives.
“Old age and climate change are also other possible factors which should not be ruled out in the recent whales’ death in Ghana.”