One hundred people protested on August 23 outside the Boorloo/Perth headquarters of fossil fuel company Woodside, which wants to construct a massive new gas field at Burrup Hub off the Pilbara coast.
Organised by Greenpeace and Conservation Council WA, the vigil brought attention to the dangerous practice of seismic blasting. It involves directing extremely loud and powerful sonar toward the sea floor to detect gas deposits. The noise can irreparably damage whales’ hearing, and since whales rely on hearing to communicate and find food, a deaf whale is a dead whale.
Woodside plans to conduct seismic blasting for up to 80 days to assess gas reserves for its Burrup Hub. If it goes ahead, it will be Australia’s dirtiest fossil fuel project.
The protesters included people campaigning for the Fremantle Dockers AFL team to ditch Woodside sponsorship.