Seismic Airgun Blasting - Oceana USA

Seismic Airgun Blasting

Stop Seismic Blasting

Seismic airgun blasting is one of the most harmful activities happening in our ocean today—and it’s often the first step toward risky offshore drilling. This destructive practice puts whales, dolphins, fish, and entire coastal communities at risk. Learn what seismic blasting is, how it works, and why we must act now to stop it before more harm is done.

What is Seismic Blasting?

Seismic airgun blasting threatens marine life and local economies that rely on a healthy ocean. It is used by the oil and gas industry to find fossil fuels, like oil, deep below the ocean floor, but this practice is shortsighted and dangerous. Seismic airguns create one of the loudest manmade sounds in the ocean and these sounds can travel up to 2,500 miles underwater, approximately the distance of a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Noise created by seismic surveys can “blanket” areas of more than 115,000 square miles. The noise can disturb, injure, or kill marine animals and also reduce catch rates for fisheries. Not only does seismic blasting threaten fisheries and wildlife, but it is also the first step toward dirty and dangerous offshore drilling.

How Does Seismic Blasting Work?

Oil and gas companies use seismic surveys, where ships tow airguns that fire loud blasts of air into the ocean. The sound waves travel deep into the seabed and bounce back to audio receivers at the surface, helping map underground rock layers to find oil and gas deposits.

Seismic airgun blasting harms fisheries at every stage. It drives fish away, lowering catch rates and causing immediate losses for fishing communities. Species that can’t escape—like snapper, scallops, and lobster—can be injured, making it harder for them to feed, reproduce, or survive. The blasts also damage larvae and young fish, threatening the long-term health and recovery of fisheries and marine ecosystems.

Some marine wildlife like dolphins and whales depend on sound to survive, but seismic airgun noise can damage their hearing, disrupt behavior, and cause stress or illness. For critically endangered species like North Atlantic right whales, these impacts could be devastating to their health and recovery.

How We Can Defend Our Oceans?

We must protect the whales, fish, sea turtles, and countless other species that call our coasts home from the threat of seismic airgun blasting. The risks to marine wildlife, ocean habitat, fisheries, and the coastal communities that depend on them are simply too great. We cannot allow seismic blasting to expand in U.S. waters.

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