Thread – Issue of final report – Close out of recommendation 2101 - 1

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 10 Jul 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

NOPSEMA closed out recommendation 2101-1 following Schlumberger's revised response to findings from a petroleum environmental inspection of the Otway Basin 2D multi-sensor seismic (MSS) survey. The key requirement addressed marine mammal protection, specifically prohibiting seismic airgun discharge in pygmy blue whale biologically important areas from November 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020. Schlumberger revised its Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) validation procedures, requiring agreement within 20% between PAM distance estimates and visual observer measurements before using PAM for nighttime operations and shutdown procedures. If validation fails, the vessel must cease operations upon low-frequency cetacean detection. NOPSEMA acknowledged Schlumberger's consultation with fishing stakeholders and confirmed the recommendation closure, while noting future inspections of environmental controls remain possible.