Some Hope for the Bottlenose Dolphin?

There is a glimmer of hope that Cardigan Bay may be excluded from being licensed for oil and gas exploration by the Department for Trade and Industry. The full announcement of the outcome of the current round of licenses has been long overdue, but a recent exchange in the House of Commons between Mark Williams MP and Alastair Darling, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry revealed that the delay in licensing has been due to continued environmental assessments for three 'blocks' of exploration in Cardigan Bay and one in the Moray Firth, Scotland (the other place in the UK where a population of bottlenose dolphins are resident).

You can add your name to the voices speaking out against drilling in what is a Special Area of Conservation (a designation of European-level significance) by writing to Alastair Darling MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, DTI, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET to raise concerns regarding the impact on tourism and the exposure of marine wildlife to seismic surveying and the increased risk of pollution. If you haven't already, please sign the e-petition, which should be presented to 10 Downing Street soon - so hurry!