Just to clarify the actual risks, although setting off explosions sounds dramatic, the actual risk at this stage would be any habitat damage done in clearing routes for getting the equipment to the test localities.  Obviously, installing an oil well would involve more substantial clearing of vegetation.  The test drilling and seismic blasts themselves are not particularly disruptive-the goal is to create sonar echos off of sedimentary layers, not to blast holes.  If the data are made public, they could actually be of some help to the fossil collectors by giving stratigraphic information for the region.  It is also possible, though expensive, to drill sideways as well as down and thereby to tap into oil that is directly below something you want to preserve.  However, if we do not curb demand for fossil fuel, it will be increasingly difficult to prevent drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    46860 Hilton Dr #1113
    Lexington Park MD 20653 USA
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That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droigate Spa