This latest environmental missive comes on the back of a report by the Moscow University and Japan’s Wildlife Preservation Bureau which found 15 fledglings in nests in areas around the oil-development facilities following a survey of the eagles’ habitat.

According to Professor Vladimir Mastrov, “The ramifications of the development work, the laying of pipelines, deforestation, the entry of people and large-sized vehicles into construction sites, and the flow of mud into the sea, pose serious impediments to sea eagles in their efforts to build nests in trees for breeding and to catch flatfish and trout for food in shallow waters.”

The Steller’s, the world’s largest class of eagles, have been listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union. About 5,000 are believed to be living in the wild. The birds breed in the coastal areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island.