Marine Seismic Surveys and Terrestrial Fracking (2021)

Truths that the Activists, Greens, Objectivists, and far right Extremists, do not want to hear!

Let us start with the obvious truths we face on our Planet and in South Africa today:

1. The world is overpopulated. Forget about the scientists some of whom suggest that the world should be able to support a population of 12 billion, whilst others suggest that to maintain sustainable ecosystems a population of 2 billion, which was believed to be the figure around the middle of the 20th century, is likely to be the correct one. It has now reached, or is close to, 8 billion, and clearly we do not have anything like the ability, or maybe even the will, to feed them all presently.

What do the above troublemakers say about that? Would they have us cull the human race? Oh no! They would never, nor could, say that, any more than what they should be saying about birth control. In the meantime, some of our religions are so pro-life as to be ridiculous when you remember how much sadness and travail, let alone hell, exist on this earth for so many people. Yet some of them appear to accept murder, and in many cases their religious leaders can be seen to encourage it.

2. You’re right if you doubt the veracity of much of the global warming alarmist rhetoric. Archaeological, Geological, Geomorphological, Geophysical, and Geochemical studies all show that the earth has gone through many cyclical periods of both warming and cooling, many times for reasons beyond our understanding.

Of course, where we understand that our actions are contributing to this through pollution or deterioration of our natural environment, our scientists have every right to require us to change our ways. However, all logic and good common sense suggest that there is, as yet, no valid scientific research, which unequivocally indicates the actual percentage of the climate warming to date that has been caused by our increased injection of carbon related and other harmful gasses into the atmosphere. Instead it appears that the majority do acknowledge that warming is a likely cyclical event, and that the human effect, though potentially harmful in many other ways, is only a tiny part of it. Maybe the well-known Cliché that “mankind proposes but only God (Nature) disposes” could be relevant here!

Instead, we have those same extremist parties above, including child activists like Greta Thunberg at the one extreme and people like Al Gore, who should know better, to the other extreme, blowing the whole matter out of proportion. The nett result is that instead of taking mitigatory action to compensate for worsening weather patterns and rising oceans, we see the opportunistic charlatans and politicians crafting the hype and circumstances for their own agendas and benefit.

After those two examples of misguided extremism, let’s now return to the “horrific dangers?” of undersea seismic surveys for Gas and Oil (luckily not yet Coal!).

· It was about the end and turn of the last century that our favourite troublemakers locked on to seismic fracking surveys, and shortly thereafter also those of the Marine

Environment, as potentially hugely destructive to our planet’s ecosystems. As always,

little attention was spent on properly evaluating the potential benefits therefrom as against ecological possible negatives.

Suffice at this point to say their relatively minimal fracking in the USA has rendered the most advanced country in the world basically independent of international oil supplies and the negative expense and political perils thereof. Furthermore it has created tens of thousands of new jobs at the cost of losing a very small number of farms and very limited pollution risks that have, to a large extent, been negated.

· As far as Marine seismic surveys are concerned a great deal of initial effort was spent on developing opinions as to what harm they might do to our after all very important marine environment and its many natural living species.

· Please note the term “opinions” as opposed to scientific “research.”

Adopting the well-known, and somewhat overused, cautionary principle the scientists involved used almost exclusively the word ‘might,’ as opposed to the word ‘will,’ have a negative effect on whatever they were studying.

(Ref: An opinion on fishing success and fish behaviour published by A G Hirst and P G Rodhouse, 2000, and Elsevier Marine Pollution Bulletins 2017)

· Firstly, one should remember that fish and mammals have tails or flippers so would automatically move away from whatever disturbed them be it a vessel, the noise of the engines, propeller wash, or the sound waves generated by a seismic airgun.

· Secondly, the survey and vessel movements are always of relative short duration in a particular area before they move on to the next.

· Yes. Soundwaves can be carried a long way in the excellent transmission medium of seawater, but one understands that there is absolutely no evidence yet that they would have any meaningful physical effect on any marine living and swimming animal or fish.

· Yes. Within a distance of anything from one metre to twenty metres, depending on strength of the airgun output, and the size of the animal or fish in its path, certain physical injury or destruction could occur. However there is almost no likelihood of such an occurrence as they would long have moved out of the way of any vessel, let alone a survey vessel emitting sound waves from an airgun.

Yes. The one exception to this would be Plankton, fish and other eggs, larvae, and even possibly very immature slow swimming small fish. The first three can hardly move of their own volition, but the natural mortality rate of all of them is huge. In addition the incidence of so many other manmade similar occurrences, like the wash from ships and their propellers, fishing nets, and equipment, let alone the natural effects of wind and waves!

Yes. Continued disturbance can chase fish out of an area temporarily, but it is a known fact that, if it is not permanent, they will come back again.

3. Please, can anybody please come and explain to one what other possible myths of damage they can conjure up to justify their irresponsible and harmful actions based on delusional thinking?

4. When activists find themselves in a corner, such as that now evident in so many idiots so called “RIGHT OF CHOICE” in respect of Covid vaccinations, they go into denial or turn to delusional conspiracy theories based on absolutely no credible scientific, factual, or evidential basis whatsoever! It ends up as pure selfishness in the spirit of denying the need for integrity of principles and discipline. That is a road that ends in chaos and anarchy.

How many of you refused to have your children, when babies, vaccinated against polio, measles, chickenpox, etc.? I’ll bet very few of you, if any, otherwise they would not be able to go to school!

5. Would we all please remember here in South Africa, our home, land, and probable birthplace, which therefore deserves our patriotism, we have almost 50% of our population living in Poverty and frequently underfed, with half our adults capable of working unable to find a job.

6. Our government is precariously dysfunctional and basically as near to bankruptcy as does not matter. We have in real terms a society with a reducing GDP, a deteriorating economy and exchange rate, with the added likelihood of inflation rearing its head again.

7. Do you therefore believe that you have the slightest right to stop activities that could boost our economy immeasurably, and create thousands of new jobs with minimal negative effects to our natural ecosystems? Should we rather let so many of our people starve as we head towards the state of collapse, which besets so many African Countries? After all, our peoples still led the pack in respect of quality of life, healthcare, transport, well maintained infrastructure, and employment, as little as twenty years ago!