April 19th, 2009 Oil Companies Threaten Gray Whale Population
Major oil and gas companies are currently threatening the dwindling population of gray whales around Sakhalin Island in East Russia. Companies BP, Exxon and Rosneft (another Russian petroleum company) have failed to respond or participate in any way. The panel, convened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) requested a suspension on oil and gas development after population counts for North Western Pacific (Russian) gray whales were extremely low.