Ghana risks a ban on the sale of oil from the jubilee fields if measures are not put in place to check the continuous death of whales in its waters.
This is according to the head of a 9-member committee, Professor P.K Ofori-Danso after launching a report sanctioned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to investigate the growing deaths of whales and dolphins in Ghana’s waters.
According to the report, although the total number of whale deaths since 1996 is unknown, between 2009 and 2014 , 20 deaths were recorded in the Western region, three in the Greater Accra region and one in the Central region.
The highest number of deaths in a year in recent times was recorded in 2013 with a total of 12 recorded deaths.
On August 17, a dead whale was washed ashore at Atuabo in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The whale was found in-between the pre-fabrication area of the Ghana Gas Company and the Atuabo cemetery.
According to the locals, the deaths began when Ghana started crude oil production in 2010.
But the committee suggested that there was the need to conduct further investigations to ascertain whether the seismic surveys and the drilling of oil off the coast of Ghana has any links to the deaths of the whales.
Presenting their findings at an EPA 2014 second bi-annual management meeting, the committee said the causes for the whale deaths were multifactorial.
From the investigations the high possible factors included ship strikes, entanglement with fishing gear and ingestion of debris including polythene.
They also identified targeted slaughter by fishermen as a possible cause of the deaths.
Ghana is a signatory to a number of international conventions which bind the country to protect whales in its territorial waters.
The Professor Ofori-Danso led committee as part of its recommendations is suggesting direct mitigation including efforts to recover ghost nets from the sea , legislative reforms and regional cooperation.
By Rabiu Alhassan/citifmonline.com/Ghana