Press Release
February 11, 2009

Zubiri calls for in depth investigation on stranded dolphins
Earthquake study in South China Sea has potential damage

Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri called for in-depth investigation on the more than 500 dolphins stranded off the coast of Pilar in Bataan which is already within Manila Bay.

He said, "Philippine authorities and scientists should inquire into the activities of the Columbia University-affiliated Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) to conduct earthquake studies on Taiwan's sea floor. The study would include firing air guns deep into the ocean which will disastrously affect the navigational capabilities of dolphins."

The earthquake study is a sea floor investigation project in the exclusive economic zone that includes Taiwan, China, Japan and the Philippines for its earthquake research.

An animal rights group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association (WaH), has called on the United States government to reject the conduct of the experiment. It characterized the Environmental Impact Assessment as "poorly done". According to WaH founder Robin Winkler, "air guns that are 265 decibels [dB], multibeam echosounders and sub-bottom profilers will be used under the sea in the project." He added that the noise level of an exploding atomic bomb is about 300db.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said the site of the experiments would bisect the dolphins passage in the South China Sea.

The only other observable incident was a penumbral lunar eclipse which started at 6:07 pm last night with the moon entering the penumbra of the Earth's shadow and ended at 10:10 p.m.

In a penumbral eclipse, the moon will not enter in to the dark shadow (umbra) of the Earth, but the lighter shadow (penumbral shadow).

Zubiri said, "on top of saving the stranded dolphins, we should find the cause for the tragedy in order to avoid them in the future and to be prepared when it occurs again."

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