Save the Ionian

No new Fossil Fuel drilling in the Ionian Sea or the Mediterranean.

Protect the whales. Protect the Island Communities of Corfu. Protect the Ionian Sea.

Urgent call to action

Public comment deadline: 23 September 2026

Please take all three actions today:

  1. Sign and share the petition. Protect Corfu and the Ionian Sea: Stop the Planned Offshore Drilling . Then send it directly to friends, residents, visitors and community groups.
  2. Submit a public comment by 23 September 2026. Write to the Greek Environmental Registry (EER) of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. Access is available only to registered users. Log in or register on the EER platform and enter consultation number 2608016214 .
  3. Volunteer. Help with local outreach, communications, research and campaign action. Email pod@maoceans.org .
Residents and responders gather around a stranded Cuvier’s beaked whale on Arillas Beach, Corfu, November 2011.
Arillas, Corfu, November 2011. Residents and responders gather around a stranded Cuvier’s beaked whale on the beach. Photo credit: Dimitris Kourkoulos
November 2011 — Arillas, Corfu

The beach I now call home had a visitor. This whale came ashore alive. Just outside Graziella Taverna on Arillas Beach, residents noticed a large marine animal lying almost motionless in the shallows. It was a Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris), one of the deepest-diving mammals on Earth.

People from Arillas entered the sea and pushed the whale towards deeper water. It swam away. Everyone thought they had saved it.

Then it came back.

That evening, residents found the whale stranded again at the northern end of the beach. They entered the water a second time and tried once more to guide it offshore.

Again, it turned back towards land.

By the following morning, it was dead. Dimitris Kourkoulos, one of the residents who tried to save it, recorded what happened in a contemporaneous account published on Arillas.com:

“It did not want to go away... it turned back and left its body still in the shallow water.”

— Dimitris Kourkoulos, Brouklis Taverna, Arillas
Content note — this photograph depicts a dead animal A stranded Cuvier’s beaked whale is examined on the beach at Arillas, Corfu, November 2011.
Historical record: Arillas, Corfu, November 2011. A stranded Cuvier’s beaked whale is examined on the beach.

The proposed offshore oil and gas exploration

Off western Corfu, lies an offshore oil-and-gas concession known as Block 2. The concession is currently held by ExxonMobil (60%), Energean (30%, operator) and HELLENiQ ENERGY (10%).

In March 2026, the consortium formally entered the second exploration phase. That phase carries an obligation to drill an exploration well. The operator states that, subject to permitting, exploratory drilling is planned for February 2027, a 60-day deepwater drilling campaign at Asopos-1A, Block 2

Before drilling, Energean commissioned environmental surveys .

And they found the whales.

The project’s own Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) reports that, during project-specific marine-mammal monitoring in 2026, underwater acoustic recorders detected:

What the project monitoring recorded What the finding means
Cuvier’s beaked whales — at least 13 acoustic encounters Cuvier’s beaked whales were recorded in the project area during the operator’s own survey work.
Sperm whales — detected on most monitoring days Sperm whales were repeatedly detected, rather than being merely hypothetical visitors to the wider Mediterranean.
A visual and acoustic sperm-whale encounter in deep water The ESIA records an animal encountered in approximately 850 metres of water and acoustically followed while diving to approximately 750 meters.

For whales and dolphins, sound is part of their habitat. They depend on acoustics to navigate, communicate, locate prey and understand a world thousands of meters beneath the surface.

These are not whales hypothetically passing somewhere through the Mediterranean. They were detected during the project’s own environmental surveys. The ESIA also identifies Cuvier’s beaked whales among the offshore marine-mammal species most relevant to the proposed drilling location. 2

The proposed well lies within the South Adriatic–Ionian Strait Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area: an internationally recognized area that includes habitat for Cuvier’s beaked whales and other important marine species. 2

Asopos-1A, Block 2 is an exploration well in the Ionian sea, part of a larger program to drill all over the mediteranean.

WWF Greece report states that more than 20% of Greek seas have now been allocated to the petroleum industry, and that all four new blocks sit within the Hellenic Trench; the briefing puts the figure at roughly 94,000 square kilometres. Seismic surveys are explicitly excluded from environmental licensing under Greek national legislation. Read the WWF Greece briefing.

Map of Greece’s offshore fossil-fuel concessions in August 2026, showing nine active exploration blocks from west of Corfu down the Ionian coast and around southern Crete.
Greece’s offshore fossil-fuel concessions, August 2026. Boundaries and status: HEREMA interactive map, accessed 26 August 2026. Independent campaign graphic; not affiliated with WWF or HEREMA.

The Ionian Sea is a valuable natural asset, now at risk

The north-western Ionian is a living deep-sea ecosystem. Its waters support Cuvier’s beaked whales, sperm whales, dolphins, Mediterranean monk seals, loggerhead turtles, sharks and rays, tuna and swordfish, and deep-water coral and sponge communities. 2

The Ionian is a clean sea, beautiful shades of blue, unpolluted from industrial activity even with maritime and commercial traffic. The decision to explore and drill carries environmental and economic risks that extend across the whole living system, a connected ecosystem. Vessel traffic, artificial light, seabed activity, noise, drilling discharges and accidental pollution can affect different parts of the same ecosystem.

Climate and energy choices.

While Greece has set an ambitious target of approximately 82% renewable power by 2030, the weakness lies not in the absence of targets, but in implementation. The failure to build a modern, decentralized and resilient electricity system weakens investor confidence and wastes Greece’s exceptional solar and wind resources. Against that background, opening vast areas of the Ionian and Mediterranean to new oil and gas exploration is not a coherent energy strategy; it diverts political attention and capital toward long-lived fossil-fuel infrastructure precisely when Greece should be accelerating grids, storage, efficiency and locally beneficial renewable energy. European Commission assessment of Greece’s national energy and climate plan.

Before opening a new deep-water hydrocarbon frontier, the public-interest case should consider not only the possible value of an unproven gas resource, but also long-term emissions, infrastructure lock-in, transition risk and the opportunity cost of putting an already valuable natural asset at risk.

Pollution and accident risk.

Offshore drilling brings drilling discharges, increased vessel activity and the possibility of accidents. The project’s own ESIA acknowledges that a subsea blowout, although assessed by them as extremely unlikely, could be environmentally significant. Even its smaller representative fuel-spill scenario produces possible transboundary effects.

An island economy tied to a healthy sea.

Corfu and the Ionian Islands derive enduring value from clean water, beaches, fisheries, coastal communities, wildlife and tourism. Environmental degradation is therefore not only an ecological risk; it is an economic risk to assets and livelihoods that already exist. Corfu has a vibrant sailing community that stands to lose from high maritime traffic which creates hazards for sailing vessels. Sailors also face increasing risk of accidents and collisions as more ships create navigational hazards.

The Precursor of Decades of Industrial Offshore Development in the Ionian?

This exploratory well is only the beginning. Asopos-1 is an exploration well. If it makes a commercially viable discovery, further appraisal and potentially a much larger offshore development could follow, bringing additional wells, subsea infrastructure and long-term industrial activity. The current ESIA assesses the exploration operation, not the full footprint of a hypothetical future gas development.

The question is bigger than whether one exploration well can be drilled. It is what future we want for the Ionian.

Campaign map of the Ionian Sea showing Block 2 in relation to Corfu, the Diapontia Islands and historic Cuvier’s beaked whale stranding areas.
Campaign map of the Ionian Sea, showing Block 2 in relation to Corfu, the Diapontia Islands and historic Cuvier’s-beaked-whale stranding areas. Illustrative map

What this could mean for Corfu

Corfu's beaches should be where people come to experience one of the most beautiful seas in the world, not where residents and visitors watch protected whales suffer and die.

But knowing what we now know about the vulnerability of these animals, knowingly introducing additional industrial and acoustic pressure into their habitat demands an extraordinarily high burden of proof. The burden should not be on Corfu to prove, after the damage is done, that the risk was unacceptable.

Corfu welcomes millions of visitors because of its extraordinary coastline, clear water, wildlife and living Mediterranean landscape. People do not travel to the Ionian Islands to see an industrialized sea.

No environmental assessment should treat the possibility of a protected whale suffering and dying on a Corfu beach as an acceptable cost of discovering whether there might be gas beneath the Ionian.

Important questions the ESIA does not resolve

This is why we believe action is necessary now, while the project is still going through approvals.

1

Why was the whale survey so short?

The project-specific marine-mammal fieldwork was concentrated principally in March and April 2026. The proposed drilling is expected in winter 2027. Cuvier’s beaked whales were nevertheless detected at least 13 times during this relatively short monitoring period.

What would year-round passive acoustic monitoring reveal? What is the cetacean baseline specifically during the proposed winter drilling period?

2

Where is Corfu’s stranding history in the assessment?

Western Corfu experienced an extraordinary Cuvier’s-beaked-whale mass stranding in 2011. Further Cuvier’s beaked whales stranded on Corfu in 2022. 5

Our review of the ESIA has not identified a substantive assessment of these Corfu events in its analysis of the species’ local vulnerability. The ESIA does discuss historical beaked-whale strandings elsewhere in the Hellenic Trench. Why is Corfu’s own history not part of the local risk assessment?

3

Is hearing damage the right measure of risk?

Much of the acoustic analysis assesses thresholds for temporary or permanent hearing effects. But Cuvier’s beaked whales present a more complicated scientific problem. Their documented responses to intense underwater sound include behavioral disruption and altered diving behavior. The pathology associated with certain sonar-linked strandings involves gas and fat emboli, not simply damage to hearing. 1

An independent specialist should determine whether the ESIA’s acoustic methodology adequately captures the behavioral and physiological vulnerability of Cuvier’s beaked whales.

4

Is “they will swim away” really mitigation?

The ESIA assumes that marine animals can reduce their acoustic exposure by moving away from approaching sound sources. But for a protected animal, being forced out of habitat is itself an impact.

EU protection for cetaceans extends beyond killing or physical injury to deliberate disturbance of strictly protected species. 6 The question is not merely whether a whale survives exposure. It is whether industrial activity disrupts the way these animals use their habitat.

5

Why is the final marine-mammal mitigation plan being developed later?

The ESIA says a marine-mammal mitigation plan will be developed and implemented. Proposed measures include a dedicated Marine Mammal Observer, passive acoustic monitoring, soft-start procedures and a 500-metre observation zone during VSP.

These measures are important. But Cuvier’s beaked whales are deep-diving animals that spend long periods beneath the surface. How adequate is a 500-metre visual zone for an animal that may be hundreds or thousands of meters underwater? Why should the project be approved before the final mitigation plan on which its impact conclusions depend can be independently evaluated?

6

And what about spills? Was Italy consulted?

The ESIA also examines accidental spills. It considers a subsea well blowout extremely unlikely because of multiple well-control barriers, but it acknowledges that a subsea blowout could be environmentally significant.

A subsea blowout was modelled. Yet those consequences are not used as the representative environmental spill scenario because the probability is judged extremely low. Instead, the principal spill scenario presented for environmental assessment is a 350 m³ marine-gas-oil spill from a support vessel. 2 Even that smaller scenario produces transboundary consequences in the modelling. During the proposed drilling season, the highest modelled probability of shoreline contact is in Italy, with possible arrival in approximately 2.8 days. Other seasonal modelling shows potential contact with the island of Othoni. 2

What is the Ionian worth?

The economic discussion around Block 2 focuses naturally on the hydrocarbons that may lie beneath the seabed. But Corfu already possesses something extraordinarily valuable: a living sea. Its beaches. Its fisheries. Its wildlife. Its landscapes. Its tourism economy. Its communities. And marine ecosystems capable of creating ecological and economic value generation after generation.

The question therefore cannot simply be, what might the gas be worth? It must also be, what is the living Ionian worth? And who carries the risk if we get that calculation wrong?

The gas beneath Block 2 remains an unproven prospective resource. The beaches, fisheries, tourism economy, communities and ecological value of the Ionian already exist. A responsible decision should compare the full risk-adjusted value of both, not count the potential hydrocarbons while treating the living sea as an externality.

That means considering downside as well as upside: accident and spill exposure, cumulative ecosystem impacts, the consequences of a commercial discovery and subsequent development, climate and transition risk, and the long-term economic value of keeping the Ionian healthy.

Our ask

No new fossil-fuel drilling

1. Stop Asopos-1A, Block 2

Do not authorize the Asopos-1A exploration well, VSP air-gun activity or any further oil and gas exploration in the North Ionian.

2. End new offshore fossil-fuel permits

Greece should halt and reverse the expansion of offshore hydrocarbon concessions in its seas and direct public policy and investment toward clean energy and resilient island economies.

3. Champion a Mediterranean moratorium

Greece should work through the European Union and Mediterranean institutions for a region-wide moratorium on new offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling.

Why act now?

Because the decision has not yet disappeared over the horizon.

Block 2 entered its second exploration phase in March 2026, and Greece’s hydrocarbon authority says the phase includes an exploration well. 3 The operator says exploratory drilling is planned for February 2027, subject to permitting. 2 There is still time for scientists, citizens, environmental organizations, lawyers and public authorities to act. The question is no longer how to make new fossil-fuel drilling acceptable. It is whether Greece will protect a living sea and choose an energy future that does not sacrifice the Ionian and Mediterranean.

Save the Ionian

No new fossil-fuel drilling in the Ionian Sea or the Mediterranean.

Protect the whales. Protect Corfu's island communities. Protect the Ionian Sea.

Take action now

Sign the petition, submit your public comment by 23 September 2026, and volunteer.

Support the campaign and legal action

Help fund scientific review, public information and, where necessary, legal action.

“Save the Ionian” is an initiative of Ma Oceans.

Sources and evidence

We believe environmental advocacy should be based on evidence. The scientific and environmental claims on this page are drawn primarily from the Block 2 Asopos-1A Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), official Greek government and HEREMA documents, peer-reviewed cetacean science, EU environmental law and international marine-conservation sources.

WWF Greece, “New oil and gas permits put Greece on the wrong side of history” (17 March 2026), reports that new concessions expose roughly 20% of Greece's maritime territory to hydrocarbon exploration, provide only limited guaranteed public revenue, contain inadequate environmental safeguards, and deepen long-term fossil-fuel dependence. Read the WWF Greece findings.

  • 1 Bernaldo de Quirós et al., “Advances in research on the impacts of anti-submarine sonar on beaked whales,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2019). pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  • 2 Energean, Block 2 Exploration Drilling Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. energean.com (PDF)
  • 3 HEREMA, “Block 2 offshore concession enters second exploration phase” (March 2026). herema.gr
  • 5 iSea, “Massive stranding of Ziphius cavirostris in Corfu” (February 2022). isea.com.gr
  • 6 Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora. eur-lex.europa.eu
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