Harbour porpoises are among the smallest marine mammals, once abundant in the North Sea, and recognizable by their cute little squeaks they make when surfacing. They are shy and rely heavily on echolocation to navigate, communicate, and hunt.

But ExxonMobil could soon drive harbour porpoises from their ocean home in the North Sea. The oil giant plans to conduct months of seismic testing with sound cannons for a carbon storage site—even though storing carbon under the seabed is highly controversial.

Noise pollution in the North Sea is already unbearable due to ship traffic and construction work for offshore wind farms. And sound cannons are among the loudest human-made noises of all—they could put the already stressed and declining porpoises and other marine life over the edge.

Exxon is trying to push through its plans without drawing much attention – that’s where we come in. Let’s create a global outcry and call on the local German government to reject Exxon’s application for the construction permit—join our urgent call now:

Government of Lower Saxony, Germany: No Permit for Exxon’s CO2 Storage Site—Protect the North Sea & Porpoises!

Carbon capture and storage sites beneath the seabed are intended to serve as efficient, permanent carbon reservoirs and are marketed as a tool in the fight against the climate crisis. But the first finished sites off the coasts of Norway and the United Kingdom prove the opposite: implementing them is technically extremely complex and problematic.

Exxon and the likes, however, are pushing them as a feasible and lucrative pseudo-solution, because their implementation would require the construction of more pipelines and additional infrastructure—which means more profit for them. But this would mean even more noise and disruption in the North Sea—exactly what the harbour porpoises don’t need.

Exxon would prefer to begin surveying the seafloor with sound cannons immediately—for three months, every day, around the clock. A single blast is almost twice as loud as the worst New Year’s firework and can kill vast quantities of zooplankton—the key food source for all marine life.

On top of that, the entire operation is located directly off Marine Protected Areas off the islands Sylt and Borkum, both critical habitats for the porpoises where they raise their young. The required 10-kilometre buffer zone would not be maintained—which could massively disrupt the little whales.

ExxonMobil’s so-called solution poses a major threat to the North Sea and its marine life. Together, we can nip the oil giant’s plans in the bud. Take action now and tell the decision makers in Germany: No Permit for Exxon’s CO2 Storage Site—Protect the North Sea & Porpoises!

More information