Over the next eight years - according to the Obama administration's estimates - seismic exploration would injure up to 138,500 marine mammals and disrupt marine mammal feeding, calving, breeding, and other vital activities more than 13.5 million times. This could be catastrophic for the dolphins and whales we all love.

It is vitally important that we continue our work in Peru and that we inject this new evidence to stop the seismic testing off the U.S. coast

Catastrophe In Peru

Since January more than 900 dolphins have been found dead on the beaches of northern Peru. The Peruvian government conducted only perfunctory necropsies and testing then came out with the absurd conclusion that the mass mortality event (MME) was caused by "natural causes". This conclusion is patently absurd.

BlueVoice traveled to Peru in March, 2012 to document the rumor of large numbers of dolphins dead on beaches. We counted 615 in one day. Dr. Carlos Yaipen Llanos of ORCA Peru, funded by BlueVoice, has conducted necropsies on 30 of these dolphins.

He has found no evidence of disease, starvation, entanglement in nets or red tide. There were no marks or lesions on the exterior of the stranded dolphins. What he has found is evidence of acoustical trauma leading to rapid ascent and decompression syndrome. In other words loud noises, produced repeatedly over a long period of time, startled the dolphins who raced for the surface and incurred what humans call the bends.

Initially all experts rejected the idea of seismic testing as the culprit. They said there has never been a scientifically verified case of seismic testing causing an unusual mass mortality in dolphins.

Then we discovered an MME of melon-headed whales (species of dolphin) linked to seismic oil exploration off Madagascar, proving seismic testing can cause catastrophic die-offs of dolphins.

I urge you to support this vital investigation,

Hardy Jones