Breeding Grounds of Rare Whale Imperiled by Russia Oil Platform, Group Says

A proposed oil platform off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East poses a significant risk to an endangered population of gray whales, according to an international wildlife group. Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, which is partly owned by Shell and several Japanese companies, announced plans to build the platform in the feeding grounds for the Western North Pacific gray whale, of which there are only about 130 remaining, according to the most recent estimates by the group WWF International. The group said the new platform, in combination with several already in the area, could push the population to extinction by disrupting feeding behaviors, increasing the chances of ships striking whales, and disorienting the whales by using seismic surveys that interfere with their ability to navigate and communicate.