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Dolphins delay oil exploration

23 December 2007

The home of a school of bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay on the Welsh coast is to be protected from oil and gas exploration, energy minister Malcolm Wicks has said.

The government intervened after a report by the sea mammal research unit at St Andrew's University said that there was not enough known about the population of the dolphins in the Cardigan Bay area to judge how they might be affected by any exploration.

A draft environmental assessment is now subject to a three-month public consultation.

However, part of the Moray Firth, in Scotland, also home to bottlenose dolphins, looks more likely to get the go ahead for an oil and gas exploration licence.

Malcolm Wicks said: "Most areas covered by the 24th offshore oil and gas licensing round have had the go ahead but I was concerned about the dolphin populations in Cardigan Bay and also the Moray Firth.

"We know enough about the dolphins at the Moray Firth to make sure that any oil and gas activity is carried out in a manner which minimises or even cancels adverse impacts. We can't currently say the same about Cardigan Bay."

Save Our Sea, which is opposed to oil and gas exploration in Cardigan Bay, said it was encouraged by the announcement. It is estimated that 240 bottlenose dolphins swim in Cardigan Bay.

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