CANBERRA - As oil laps the Galapagos Islands and United States President George W. Bush advocates drilling in Alaska, Australians are furiously debating the future of one of their greatest natural treasures.
Federal officials are preparing recommendations on an application by an oil explorer to conduct seismic testing as close as 50km to the Great Barrier Reef, the World Heritage coral wonderland running 2100km down the Queensland coast.
The testing involves the use of underwater air blasts in waters populated by whales, green turtles, whale sharks and other vulnerable marine life.
Last November, when the grounded Malaysian freighter Bunga Teratai Satu was freed by explosives from Sudbury Reef off Cairns, researchers scooped nets full of dead fish from the area.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says the major immediate concern from the proposed seismic testing is for whales because of their susceptibility to noise.
The exploration area is frequented by endangered blue whales, vulnerable Sei, humpback and fin whales and others including sperm and minke whales.
Overlapping the present proposal is the prospect of eventual oil drilling close to an already vulnerable reef and the potential of a major accident and consequent disaster.
The Great Barrier Reef, the world's biggest continuous coral reef, is protected by the federal Great Barrier Marine Park Act but administered by both federal and state Governments: Brisbane controls the islands of the reef and its internal waters, while Canberra oversees the waters beyond.
But Canberra has additional powers through the World Heritage listing, which covers the reef from the low tide mark on Queensland beaches to the outlying islands.
Within the 340,000 sq km covered by the listing is a marine system already under severe pressure.
Unusually warm seas in 1998 raised alarm over the potential for coral bleaching, the cancer that is eating similar reefs around the world.
Research by marine biologist Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg reported that 67 per cent of the Great Barrier's inshore reefs suffered high levels of bleaching, with a coral mortality rate of up to 100 per cent, and more than 14 per cent of offshore reefs were also affected.
Other problems abound: outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorn starfish, algal blooms created by chemical run-off from coastal farms, pressure from heavy tourism, an ecosystem endangered by commercial fishing, and urban waste spewing out from towns and cities.
Balancing the protection of the reef with the exploitation of its commercial and economic potential has become an increasing nightmare, marked by an increasing frequency of battles between Brisbane and Canberra.
The grounding of the Bunga Teratai Satu, with its 1200 tonnes of fuel oil and cargo of toxic chemicals, set new alarm bells clanging.
But it was far from an isolated incident: in the past 15 years there have been 40 reported accidents, including other groundings and collisions between ships negotiating the waters of the reef.
Although the Bunga Teratai Satu was refloated without spilling its fuel or cargo the damage was bad enough.
Divers had to use explosives to blast the coral from around the ship's hull, gouging great holes in the reef and killing fish and other marine life in the nearby waters.
Federal Transport Minister John Anderson launched an immediate review of ship safety and pollution prevention throughout the reef but even as officials got down to work, Perth-based explorer TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company lodged a proposal to conduct seismic tests close to the reef to test a potential for oil.
The tests would not impinge on the reef marine park and would be conducted by a ship over 50 days towing an array of air guns set off at 50m intervals and recorded by underwater microphones.
The company says the 50km buffer zone between reef and testing is conservative and will protect marine life and reef environment from damage.
But the proposal has outraged the state Government and environmentalists, who claim the air guns could physically damage and disorient whales and other marine mammals, and particularly humpback whales using the area for calving.
"This is the equivalent of discharging continuous gunfire in a maternity ward, 24 hours a day for 50 days," WWF reef campaign manager Imogen Zethoven said.
If the tests do confirm viable oil fields, opponents say, the reef would be at constant risk of accidents and environmental devastation.
So far the federal Government, which will have the final word, has not indicated whether the application will be approved.
Alarm bells over testing threat to Barrier Reef
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