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

parts of the shelf. Activities in these areas may displace the walruses to
suboptimal feeding grounds or to coastal areas where they are more exposed
to hunting. The main habitats for walruses overlap with the northern part of
the assessment area.
Seabird concentrations are also sensitive to helicopter flyovers. The most
sensitive species is thick-billed murre at breeding sites. They will often
abandon their nests for long periods of time, and when scared away from
their breeding ledges they often push eggs or small chicks off the ledge, resulting
in a failed breeding attempt (Overrein 2002). There are only few
breeding colonies of thick-billed murre within the assessment area (Fig.
4.7.1), and only one is situated on the outer coasts over which helicopters
may pass en route to offshore installations. Concentrations of feeding birds
may also be sensitive, as they may lose feeding time due to the disturbance.
Flying in Greenland both with fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters is regulated
in areas with seabird breeding colonies (order of 8 March 2009 on protection
and hunting of birds). In the period 15 April to 15 September a distance
to colonies of thick-billed murre and a number other species has to be > 3000
m both horizontally and vertically, while the distance to other colonies
(common eider, Arctic tern etc) has to be 200 m.
Flying in relation to mineral exploration is also regulated by special field
rules issued by the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum. These rules encompass
areas with staging and moulting geese, areas with moulting seaducks,
etc.
The effects of disturbance of moulting seaducks can be mitigated by applying
specific flight altitudes and routes, as many birds will habituate to regular
disturbances as long as these are not associated with other negative impacts
such as hunting (Burger 1998).
Offshore construction activities, such as blasting, have the potential to produce
behavioural disturbance and physical damage among marine mammals,
particularly cetaceans (Ketten 1995, Nowacek et al. 2007). Off Newfoundland,
Ketten et al. (1993 in Gordon et al. 2003), in Gordon et al. (2003),
found damage consistent with blast injury in the ears of humpback whales
trapped in fishing gear after blasting operations in the area. In this case, the
blasting did not provoke obvious changes in behaviour among the whales,
even though it may have caused severe injury, suggesting that whales may
not be aware of the danger posed by loud noise. Such impacts are, however,
local and will mainly be a threat on an individual level.
10.3.5 Air emissions
The large amounts of greenhouse gases released from an oil field will increase
the total Greenland emission significantly. The CO2 emission from
Statfjord in Norway (Section 2.8), for example, is twice the total current
Greenland CO2 emission, which in 2008 was 685,500 tonnes (Nielsen et al.
2010). Such amounts will have a significant impact on the Greenland greenhouse
gas emission in relation to the Kyoto Protocol (to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change) and it successor. Another very
active greenhouse gas is methane (CH4), which is released in small amounts
together with other VOCs from produced oil during trans-shipment or from
vented gas.
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