CALMING THE WAVES: USING LEGISLATION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE FROM SEISMIC SURVEYS

The document examines the negative impacts of seismic surveys on marine fauna and evaluates the adequacy of current mitigation guidelines in South Africa and globally. It recommends that South Africa move away from company-led environmental impact assessments (EIAs) toward a national, legislated regulatory framework to ensure environmental integrity during oil and gas exploration.

• Seismic surveys used in oil and gas exploration produce high-intensity, low-frequency sounds that can travel up to 4,000km, negatively impacting a wide range of marine fauna including cetaceans, fish, pinnipeds, turtles, and the critically endangered African penguin.
• Anthropogenic sound from seismic surveys causes harm through three primary mechanisms: physical or physiological responses (such as permanent or temporary threshold shifts in hearing), masking of biologically important sounds, and negative behavioural responses.
• South Africa's current approach to seismic survey mitigation relies on Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) where the company conducting the survey typically draws up the mitigation guidelines, often based on the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) guidelines.
• The author identifies several deficiencies in South Africa's current practices, including a lack of specific national guidelines, potential for poor-quality EIAs due to lack of transparency or expertise, and an exclusion zone (EZ) of 500m that may be insufficient to protect vulnerable species.
• Comparative analysis shows that Brazil has more advanced legislation, requiring sound propagation modelling, the use of independent consultants, auditing of monitoring plans, and permanent restrictions in areas with endangered species.
• To protect marine biodiversity, South Africa should establish an independent regulatory board to set standard criteria for EIAs, technical requirements (such as soft-starts and silent periods), and real-time monitoring, and then cement these as national policy.

APA

PURDON, J. (2018). CALMING THE WAVES: USING LEGISLATION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE FROM SEISMIC SURVEYS. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Policy-Insights-58.pdf

Chicago

PURDON, JEAN. CALMING THE WAVES: USING LEGISLATION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE FROM SEISMIC SURVEYS. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2018. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Policy-Insights-58.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=PURDON |first1=JEAN |title=CALMING THE WAVES: USING LEGISLATION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE FROM SEISMIC SURVEYS |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=June 2018 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Policy-Insights-58.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{purdon2018calming, author = {PURDON, JEAN}, title = {{CALMING THE WAVES: USING LEGISLATION TO PROTECT MARINE LIFE FROM SEISMIC SURVEYS}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Policy-Insights-58.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }