Atlantic dolphins are in danger, and Miranda Cosgrove needs your help to save them. Recently, she joined Oceana in Bimini, Bahamas to swim with Atlantic spotted dolphins and film a new public service announcement (PSA) about how seismic airguns could harm Atlantic dolphins. “When I first entered the water, the dolphins were playing with each other, swimming side by side, and they were constantly singing to each other—I could hear it! After a while they started to approach me and I could feel them look me in the eye. It was one of the best experiences of my life,” said Cosgrove. Released today, Miranda’s PSA reveals how seismic airguns, used to search for oil and gas deposits, will harm marine mammals like dolphins and whales. Dolphins depend on sound to communicate and find food. But dolphins like the ones Miranda saw in the Bahamas are currently threatened by seismic airguns, which shoot blasts of compressed air through the water to map oil and gas deposits beneath the seafloor. These blasts will drown out all other noises, and the government estimates that at least 138,500 dolphins and whales will be injured, or possibly killed, by seismic airguns. “Swimming with wild dolphins made it so clear that these intelligent and social animals need their use of sound to survive,” said Cosgrove, “and I’m so happy to be working with Oceana to protect them.” Despite knowing how harmful airguns are to marine life, the Obama administration recently took another step forward in allowing these blasts in the Atlantic. And seismic airguns are the first step in allowing offshore drilling, which can lead to disastrous oil spills, like the 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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