Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates his Department has made of the level of noise pollution generated by seismic survey activity; and what studies his Department has made of the effect of noise pollution on marine life in United Kingdom coastal water.
§ Mr. MacleanSeismic survey activity is usually undertaken to support oil and gas exploration and is therefore a matter for my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade. My Department has recently300W established a working group on acoustic disturbance to small cetaceans, under the chairmanship of the Natural Environment Research Council's sea mammals research unit.