Posts
Permit
would allow U.S. Navy to Clear Cut The Oceans of Whales and Dolphins
King
Island Tasmania 2009 stranding. Scientists believe that naval sonar
from both Australian and US Navy may have been responsible. —
Island,Tasmania 2009
7
March, 2013
The
U.S. Navy is seeking authorization to “take” the largest number
of whales, dolphins and seals in history.
The
term “take,” as defined in Section 3 (16 U.S.C. § 1362 (13))
of the MMPA, means “to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or
attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill
any marine
mammal.” “Harassment” was further defined in the 1994
amendments to the MMPA, which provided two levels of
“harassment,” Level A (potential injury) and Level B (potential
disturbance).
(Section
5)
A
record 31 million marine mammals will be injured and killed, at the
very least their lives disrupted during Naval training exercises off
the Atlantic, Hawaii, and Southern California Coast Range during the
5 year period if the permits are granted.
“It’s
the largest proposed authorization of these levels of harm since such
authorizations have been required under the US Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA). The Navy’s mid-frequency sonar has been
implicated in mass strandings of whales and dolphins across the
globe. In 2000, 14 beaked whales and several other marine mammals
stranded themselves in the Bahamas in response to U.S. Navy vessels
operating offshore mid-frequency sonar. Further investigations
revealed bleeding around the whale’s ears and brains”.(source)
Picture
by Sandy Sullivan taken at Jeremy Point, Wellfleet
In
the Atlantic alone 2,599 striped dolphins, 2,203 common
dolphins, and 1,854 Atlantic spotted dolphins are slated to be
injured and killed (Class A). That is only naming a few of the
species that will be killed as a by-product of Naval training. Many
other millions of encounters are requested in both the
Atlantic permit and
the Hawaii
Southern California Permit citing
(Class B) ranging from harassment to temporary hearing loss as seen
in the permit request for the Atlantic Fleet Training and testing
area:
Over
the 5-year LOA period being requested, the Navy requests 1,735
total Level
A
harassments and 11,559,236 total
Level B
harassments for all marine mammals combined for testing activities,
excluding ship shock trials.
For
one CVN ship shock trial, the Navy’s requests a maximum of 6,591
Level A
harassments and 4,607 Level
B
harassments over the 5-year LOA period. (Source
5.2.1)
Sonar
and the explosions created by underwater detonations are deadly to
marine mammals. The injuries are painful and death may come slowly as
injured and disoriented dolphins and whales flounder for days or
weeks in the ocean eventually stranding or dying at sea:
“Many
of these beached whales have suffered physical trauma, including
bleeding around the brain, ears and other tissues and large bubbles
in their organs.
These
symptoms are akin to a severe case of “the bends” — the illness
that can kill scuba divers who surface quickly from deep
water. Scientists believe that the mid-frequency sonar blasts
may drive certain whales to change their dive patterns in ways their
bodies cannot handle, causing debilitating and even fatal
injuries”.(source)
Be
a voice for the voiceless! We must insist that the Navy start scaling
back their sonar and war games not increasing them. In addition, the
Navy’s reliance on people known as “look-outs” to detect marine
mammals is unacceptable and inefficient as whales and dolphins spend
most of their lives underwater.
What
you can do!
The
two permits now available for comment until March 11, 2013:
United
States Citizens Only:
1)
Protect Constituents Rights of Appeal on NOAA Marine Mammal Permit
Application. The Navy and NOAA/NMFS are trying to take away your
right to be a voice for marine mammals.
Follow this link the sign the petition.
2)
Prohibit Military Sonar and Seismic Testing Harming Marine Mammals.
Sign
the petition
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