Greenpeace decries drill plans off Cretan coast

Environmental protection group Greenpeace is carrying out an operation in the sea south of Crete to record marine mammal populations and their activities in two blocks where Greece plans to drill for hydrocarbons. 

Hoping to rally public opinion against the drilling plans, the organization is chiefly concerned about their impact on sperm whales and Cuvier’s beaked whales. 

“The pollution produced by sea drilling operations at great depths, like those due to take place in this particular area west and south of Crete, but also a likely accident, would have a devastating impact on this sensitive ecosystem and on the mammals of the Mediterranean,” the organization’s Greek branch said in a statement. 

Kostis Grimanis, who is responsible for climate justice at Greenpeace Greece, went on to say that the drilling plans are “inconsistent with announcements by the prime minister and the government for a real green recovery, and with dealing with the destabilization of the climate and the rapid rate of biodiversity loss.”