I’m not a biologist. I don’t watch reruns of Jacque Cousteau. I can pretty much trace my compete knowledge of the effects of sonar on marine life back to The Incredible Adventures of Mr. Limpit. You know the one. Don Knott’s as a cartoon fish uses sonar to help the Navy sink subs in WWII. Anywho it turns out that no one is quite sure what effects sonar waves have on ocean life and a federal appeals court has asked the Navy to cut back on it’s use until we know more.
Apparently sonar is being blamed for the beaching of 16 whales and a couple dolphins along the coast of southern California way back in 2000. The issue has been bouncing around in the legal system for quite some time like most things tend to do (and I’m going to say it’s a sure bet this ruling will be appealed as well). The coast has been the grounds for Naval training exercises for over 40 years and claims they can find no proof any harm is being done to the animals. “There are simple, proven ways to avoid this problem without compromising the Navy’s readiness” comments senior Marine Mammal Protection Project attorney Joel Reynolds (the agency were the ones that originally filed the lawsuit that got the ball rolling)
While the Navy insists that the sonar use does not affect the animals and that the training done off the coast is essential in prepping strike teams for deployment, it appears for the moment the whales have won this battle.
Buy Repell-em Garbage Bags and keep the animals away!
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November 16th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Hello,
My name is Petty Officer Michael Perez, and I have some information on the Navy’s perspective on this issue. The Navy issued the following news release regarding the court decision:
November 13, 2007
Navy Buoyed by Appeals Court Ruling
PEARL HARBOR – Navy officials said they are optimistic that a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today ordered a lower court to rewrite restrictions on the Navy’s use of sonar in certain Southern California exercises
The Navy had asked the appeals court to overturn a preliminary injunction that was granted by a U.S. district judge on Aug. 6, 2007, that bars the Navy from using active sonar in certain multi-ship exercises off Southern California through January 2009. That injunction was granted in a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental and animal protection groups. In over 40 years of sonar training in the Southern California Operating Area, no stranding or injury of a marine mammal has been associated with the Navy’s use of sonar.
“We are encouraged that the appeals court found the original injunction was too broad and ordered the district court to tailor mitigation conditions under which the Navy may conduct its training,” said Navy spokesman Capt. Scott Gureck.
Whenever sonar is used in large exercises, the Navy employs 29 separate marine mammal protective measures, which were coordinated with and approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
“There’s no scientific proof that sonar by itself has ever directly killed or injured whales or other marine mammals,” Gureck said.
Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said: “The use of sonar is a fundamental principle in anti-submarine warfare. It is very, very important that our Sailors are proficient in applications of active sonar and in their ability to hunt submarines. It’s a perishable skill. If we don’t practice it a lot we are not going to be good at it. With the proliferation of very quiet diesel submarines throughout the world, and particularly here in the Pacific, it’s very important to me that our ships, submarines and our Sailors have this skill.”
Read the full article at http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=33265
For more information, see http://www.whalesandsonar.navy.mil/