Building risk management for marine mammals into offshore development and exploration

Marine mammals are used increasingly as a vehicle through which environmental compliance is measured. The special status of marine mammals within both statute and public opinion are built upon a foundation of knowledge about the utility of marine mammals as indicators of marine environmental state. Quantifying the risk to marine mammals is therefore an important part of the environment assessments to accompany offshore development and exploration. Poor or sparse data add to the uncertainty surrounding risk assessments but fundamental gaps in basic knowledge of how these animals will respond leads to the need to adopt an adaptive approach to offshore developments in a manner that will allow rapid changes in design or implementation to safeguard these sensitive species.