The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has advised that the Australian federal government has not established a plan to deal with oil and gas exploration offshore Western Australia in the Ningaloo Reef World Heritage Site, a major migratory area for several species of whales.
The WWF said that BHP Billiton has announced its intention to explore for oil just 5km from the Ningaloo Marine Park and that has drawn several other petroleum industry companies to the area.
The environmentalist organisation has warned that oil and gas exploration was highly likely to impact marine life at Ningaloo.