Greenpeace trailing survey ship in Barents Sea

OSLO, Norway, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Advocacy group Greenpeace says protest vessel Esperanza is monitoring a preliminary exploration campaign in the Barents Sea out of concern for arctic life.

Greenpeace says it's concerned by the decision from the Norwegian government to give consent to seismic survey company Dolphin Geophysical to conduct work in the Barents Sea.

Seismic surveys are an early step in oil exploration and give energy companies a better understanding of the reserve potential in a given area. Greenpeace said some of the sound blasts used during seismic surveys may be louder than a nuclear bomb detonation. This, in turn, could pose a significant threat to life in the arctic areas of the Barents Sea.

Sune Scheller, a Greenpeace campaigner on board the Esperanza, said that while there are restrictions on oil operations in the far northern regions of the Barents Sea, the seismic campaign may be a sign of trouble ahead.

"It's a step in the wrong direction, in so many ways," he said in a statement.

Greenpeace activists were arrested earlier this year for their protest against Norwegian energy company Statoil and Russia's Gazprom. When Statoil said one of its programs failed to uncover commercial reserves of oil or natural gas, Greenpeace said it shows companies shouldn't have been working in arctic waters in the first place.