Whale deaths not due to oil exploration — Government
The government says there is no scientific basis to establish that the recent spate of whales being washed ashore is due to the offshore exploration of oil and gas in the Western Region.
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In separate statements issued by the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, the Fisheries Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the government explained that the washing ashore of dead whales could be due to some other cause than the oil and gas exploration.
“It is important to note that dead whales that have been washed ashore in Ghana were in a decomposed state and, therefore, samples could not be taken for laboratory analysis to ascertain the cause of death,” the Ministry of Fisheries and the Fisheries Commission said in a joint statement signed by the sector Minister, Mr Nayon Bilijo.
“It is possible that the whales might have died in other countries’ waters and carried by the current into Ghanaian waters and later washed ashore,” it added.
In its statement, the EPA said: “We wish to state that the EPA is very much alive to its duties.”
About 15 dead whales are reported to have been washed ashore recently along the coast of parts of the Western Region, raising suspicion that the incident may be due to oil and gas exploration activities in the Western Region.
But the ministry and the Fisheries Commission said: “The cause of death of the whales is not due to negligence or inaction on the part of competent authorities responsible for the regulation and management of the Ghanaian marine waters.”
It explained that the death of a whale could be due to ageing, infectious disease related to bacterial, fungal, viral and parasitic infection or non-infectious diseases related to failure of internal organs.
It said whales could also die from straying into shallow waters as a result of chasing prey, water turbulence or sound distraction.
It further indicated that trauma as a result of getting entangled in traps, nets or collision with vessels could also lead to the death of whales.
On the seeming blame game that the incidents had generated between the Fisheries Commission and the EPA, the statement said: “The Fisheries Commission has never blamed the EPA or any other government agency for the cause of death of whales in Ghanaian waters.”
In its statement, the EPA expressed concern over statements in the media attributed to an official of the Fisheries Commission.
“While the recent washing ashore of dead whales on the country’s beaches is of much concern to the EPA, we find statements attributed to Mr Emmanuel Ohene Marfo of the Fisheries Commission in the publication that most whales and marine life that were discovered dead were found near oil rigs to be very inaccurate and very misleading.
