Since there are only about 80 Western Pacific gray whales left in the world, any loss of habitat is serious. If completed, four oil projects in various stages of exploration on the outer continental shelf would completely surround Sakhalin Island with drilling platforms. They could die out.
Whales always go to the same place to breed.
This is exactly where the Sakhalin-2 oil field is. Oil and gas exploration can mask these signals and can even damage the whales' hearing. Gray whales are particularly sensitive to the noise produced by the drilling on production platforms. The stress of trying to escape the noise may also shorten a whale's life span. Whales usually swim away from noise, diving suddenly, and frightened cetaceans may not have time to replenish their oxygen supplies.