Questions & Answers
WHY ARE WESTERN GRAY WHALES IN THE SPOTLIGHT?
Western Gray Whales are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. Only some 120 individuals remain in the North-Western Pacific, making this population one of
the most endangered in the world. Gray whales disappeared from the North Atlantic about 300 years
ago and as recently as the early 1970s they were thought to have been extirpated from the NorthWestern Pacific as well.
Characteristics
Gray whales attain lengths of up to 15 m. Instead of a dorsal fin, they have a small hump followed by a
series of bumps or “knuckles” along the spine, starting about two-thirds of the way from the front of the
body. The skin is mottled gray and infested with barnacles and whale lice, especially on the head. The
distinctive pattern of markings is used to identify individuals. Mature females give birth to a single calf
once every two or three years after a gestation period of 12 to13 months, after which they nurse their
offspring for seven to nine months. Breeding occurs in winter.
The species is known for its long-distance migrations between low-latitude calving and mating grounds
near continental coasts and high-latitude feeding grounds in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic. Key areas of
distribution include the summer feeding grounds off northeastern Sakhalin Island, Russia.
Threats
The decline of Western gray whales was caused by commercial whaling off Russia, Korea, and Japan
between the 1890s and 1960s. Gray whales have been legally protected from commercial whaling
under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling since 1946, although they continued
to be hunted into the 1960s by countries that had not signed the Convention.
Current threats include occasional illegal harpooning, ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.
Activities or events related to oil and gas exploration, including high-intensity geophysical seismic
surveying, drilling operations, increased ship and air traffic, and oil spills, pose potential threats to
these animals and their feeding habitat.
The International Whaling Commission, amongst others, has called for urgent measures to protect this
critically endangered population.
HOW ARE WESTERN GRAY WHALES AND OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENTS IN SAKHALIN
RELATED?
The only known feeding grounds of Western Gray Whales lie along the coast of north-eastern Sakhalin
Island, an area rich in oil and gas. These feeding grounds are occupied typically from early June until
November. Existing and planned large-scale gas and oil activities in the region are regarded as a serious
threat to the population’s survival. Specific concerns include: noise disturbance, ship strikes, oil exposure,
and physical alteration of the whales’ benthic food resources.
WHO IS SAKHALIN ENERGY?
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, known as Sakhalin Energy, is a Russia-based company, in
which Royal Dutch Shell owns a 55 percent stake and Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi
Corporation hold the remaining 45 percent.
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WHAT IS THE SAKHALIN II OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT?
Sakhalin Energy is implementing the Sakhalin II Production-Sharing Agreement (PSA), an agreement
between the Government of the Russian Federation, the Sakhalin Oblast, and Sakhalin Energy.
Sakhalin II is a phased development project:
Phase 1, an oil-only development, went into production in 1999 and produces approximately six
months of the year during the ice-free period.
Phase 2 is an integrated oil and gas development that will allow year-round oil and gas production,
and includes two additional offshore platforms, offshore and onshore pipelines, and onshore
processing and exporting facilities. Production from Phase 2 of the Sakhalin II Project is planned to
commence in 2007. Phase 2 of the Sakhalin II Project is the largest international oil and gas
investment in Russia.
The Sakhalin II project comprises the development of two fields – Piltun-Astokhskoye, primarily an oil
field with associated gas, and Lunskoye, predominantly a gas field with associated condensate. The
proposed development involves installation of offshore platforms on the Piltun-Astoskhskoye field and
the Lunskoye field and linking both to the shore by offshore pipelines.
WHAT IS THE WESTERN GRAY WHALE ADVISORY PANEL?
The Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel is a group of ten leading scientists from a variety of
backgrounds that will provide independent review and advice regarding the management of risks to the
Western Gray Whales. The Panel is constituted for an initial period of five years.
WHO IS THE PANEL
The following members have been appointed to the Advisory panel:
Randal Reeves (Chair)
(Canada)
Timothy Ragen
(USA)
Robert Brownell
(USA)
Grigory Tsidulko
(Russia)
Justin Cooke
(Germany)
Glenn Van Blaricom
(USA)
Greg Donovan
(UK)
Alexander Vedenev
(Russia)
Douglas Nowacek
(USA)
Alexey Yablokov
(Russia)
WHY IS IUCN INVOLVED?
IUCN is a well-established conservation organization with a track record of convening independent
reviews. One of its main strengths is the IUCN Species Survival Commission, an unrivalled scientific
network of species conservation experts, which produces the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,
the world’s most authoritative source of information on extinction threats to animals and plants at the
global level. IUCN’s role in the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel is that of a neutral convener and
facilitator of the process, and as such it does not attempt to influence the Panel members.
HOW DID THE PROCESS START?
Following widespread concerns over the potential risks associated with large-scale oil and gas
development on and near the Western Gray Whale feeding habitat in Russia, Sakhalin Energy
requested, and IUCN agreed, to convene an independent scientific panel to review the situation of the
Western Gray Whale in 2004.
The Panel’s report on Sakhalin II Project’s impacts on Western Gray Whales was published in
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February 2005. The report described and evaluated the risks, mitigation options and monitoring needs
in relation to planned oil and gas developments. In particular, it assessed the implications (for the
whales and their habitat) of three pipeline options being considered by Sakhalin Energy.
The independent scientific panel’s report and a series of meetings held following its release led to the
call for a permanent scientific advisory body for the project. This body took shape in the course of 2005
and 2006 to become the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel.
FURTHER INFORMATION?
IUCN: www.iucn.org
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: www.iucnredlist.org
IUCN Global Marine Team: www.iucn.org/themes/marine
Sakhalin Energy: http://www.sakhalinenergy.com/
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