The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi

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Pulsipher 2005), attract fish and even seals. Especially the fish may be exposed
to the contaminants from release of produced water.
Placement of structures onshore in coastal habitats may impact rivers with
spawning and wintering Arctic char by creating obstructions they cannot
cross, resulting in the loss of a local population.
Placement of structures onshore also imposes a risk of spoiling habitats for
unique coastal flora and fauna.
When dealing with placement of structures, particularly on land and in
coastal habitats, aesthetic aspects must be considered in a landscape conservation
context. The risk of spoiling the impression of pristine wilderness is
high. Background studies in the field combined with careful planning can
reduce such impacts on the landscape. Landscape aspects are also the most
important when dealing with potential effects on the tourism industry.
Greenlandic tourism's main asset – its unspoilt nature – is readily made
much less attractive by buildings, infrastructure and other facilities.
10.3.4 Noise/Disturbance
Noise from drilling and the positioning of machinery is described under the
exploration heading (section 2.2). These activities continue during the development
and production phase, supplemented by noise from many other activities.
If several production fields are active in the waters west of, for example,
Nuuk town, the impacts of noise particularly on the occurrence of cetaceans
must be addressed. Bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea avoided
close proximity (up to 50 km) to oil rigs, which has been shown to result in
significant loss of summer habitat (Schick & Urban 2000). This could be a
problem for some of the baleen whale stocks in the assessment area.
One of the more significant sources of noise during development and production
is ships and helicopters used for intensive transport operations
(Overrein 2002). Ships and helicopters are widely used in the Greenland environment
today, but the level of these activities is expected to increase significantly
in relation to development of one or more oil fields within the assessment
area. Supply ships will sail between offshore facilities and coastal
harbours. Shuttle tankers will sail between crude oil terminals and the transshipment
facilities on a regular basis, even in winter. The loudest noise levels
from shipping activity come from large icebreakers, particularly when
they operate in ramming mode. Peak noise levels may then exceed the ambient
noise level up to 300 km from the sailing route (Davis et al. 1990).
Ship transport (incl. ice-breaking) has the potential to displace marine
mammals, particularly if the mammals associate negative events with the
noise; and in this respect fin whales, minke whales, white whales, narwhals
and walruses which are hunted from motor boats will be expected to be particularly
sensitive (whaling for bowhead whales and humpback whales has
recently re-started). Also seabird concentrations may be displaced by regular
traffic. The impacts can be mitigated by careful planning of sailing routes.
Helicopters produce a strong noise which can scare marine mammals as well
as birds. Particularly walruses hauled out on ice are sensitive to this activity,
and there is risk of displacement of the walruses from critical feeding
grounds. Walruses have a narrow foraging niche restricted to the shallow