Pipelines to a new oilfield planned off Shetland would jeopardise hundreds of species in a protected area, including 400-year-old clams and rare deep-sea sponges, conservation groups have said.
Pipelines for the Cambo field would run 22 miles across the Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt Marine Protected Area and the companies involved have not assessed the impacts, the campaigners argued. The area is home to “cheese-bottom” sponges and ocean quahogs, a type of clam that can live for hundreds of years, making it one of the oldest living creatures.
The government is already under pressure from climate campaigners to block the oilfield’s development by Siccar Point Energy and Shell. The companies plan to extract up to 170 million barrels of oil over 25 years.
The Marine Conservation Society
