An Alaskan judge has shot down Shell’s effort to keep drilling on the Sivulliq prospect, once called Hammerhead, in the Beafort Sea, news agency Reuters has reported.

In its ruling, the judge said the Minerals Management Service had “failed to address environmental impacts” in their okay to Shell Oil’s three-year drill-bit program.

“The U.S. Minerals Management Service did not properly consider the risks of oil spills, disturbance to migrating whales, disruptions to the traditional hunting lifestyle of Inupiat Eskimos and other potential harms from Shell's program to drill at a prospect known as Sivulliq,” the court reportedly ruled.

It’s not the first time whales have been the cause of development delays for Shell. At Sakhalin — across the Pacific Ocean in Russia’s Far East — the eating habits of rare whales was said to be altered by loud noises during offshore construction, and Shell’s project planners decided to move pipelines.

Tags: Royal Dutch Shell plc