JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury to marine mammals from using explosives

Open Access Guidance notes 2010

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

These guidelines outline measures to minimise potential injury from the use of explosives from activities such as harbour construction, well-head or platform decommissioning and unexploded ordinance clearance. In addition to the current guidelines (August 2010), a standardised marine mammal recording form is provided below. This is an Excel spreadsheet with embedded worksheets. A ‘deck form’ is also available which MMOs may prefer to use when observing before transferring the details to the Excel Spreadsheets. A guide to completing these forms is also provided. After each survey is complete, a ‘MMO report’ is submitted to the Regulator and JNCC along with the completed marine mammal recording forms. This report details how the guidelines were implemented, and any problems encountered or instances of non-compliance. The ability to determine range is a key skill for MMOs and a useful tool to assist in this function is a rangefinding stick. Instructions on how to design and use a rangefinding stick are provided below. Note: these guidelines are due to be updated in 2019, further information will be published once available.

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