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JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury to marine mammals from unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance in the marine environment 2025

Abstract

These guidelines outline measures to minimise potential injury from the clearance through detonation of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the marine environment. Separate guidance is provided for when using explosives for other purposes (e.g. decommissioning: see JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury to marine mammals from explosive use in the marine environment

An accompanying annex, of relevance to these guidelines and the JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury to marine mammals from explosive use in the marine environment, provides further information to support the recommendations in the guidelines.

These guidelines should be considered alongside The Government Joint Position Statement regarding the clearance of UXO. This sets out JNCC's and the other signatories’ position on the use of lower noise alternatives to high order detonation of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) within the marine environment.

In addition to the guidelines, a standardised marine mammal recording form is provided in which to record mitigation effort. This is an Excel spreadsheet with embedded worksheets. A ‘deck form’ (in Word format) is also available which Marine Mammal Observers (MMOs) may prefer to use when in the field, before transferring the details to the Excel Spreadsheets. A guide to completing these forms is provided, along with an angleboard. After each activity is complete, a ‘MMO report’ is submitted to the Regulator and JNCC along with the completed marine mammal recording forms. The MMO report details how the guidelines were implemented, and any problems encountered or instances of non-compliance.

The ability to determine range is a key skill for MMOs and a useful tool to assist in this function is a rangefinding stick. Instructions on how to design and use a rangefinding stick are provided in spreadsheet format.

The mitigation guidelines are supplemented by JNCC guidance for the use of Passive Acoustic Monitoring in UK waters, published in December 2023. This guidance aims to standardise when PAM is used to mitigate the risk of deliberate injury to marine mammals and provides guidance on how to deploy PAM systems.

For more information on marine mammals and noise mitigation, and to access the other guidelines (piling, geophysical surveys), visit https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/marine-mammals-and-noise-mitigation/.

These resources may not be fully accessible for all users. If you need copies in a different or more accessible format, please contact Communications@jncc.gov.uk.

Resource type Publication

Topic category Environment

Reference date 2025·01·21

Citation
JNCC. 2025. JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury to marine mammals from unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance in the marine environment. JNCC, Aberdeen.

Lineage
These guidelines outline measures to minimise potential injury to marine mammals from the clearance through detonation of unexploded ordnance.

Responsible organisation
Communications, JNCC author

Limitations on public access No limitations

Use constraints Available under the Open Government Licence 3.0

Metadata date 2025·01·21

Metadata point of contact
Communications, JNCC

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