US Navy To Kill, Injure ‘Thousands’ Of Whales, Dolphins During Drills

Flashback:

Study of Stranded Dolphins Shows Many to Be Near-Deaf (Thanks to Navy Sonar)

Navy Study: Sonar, Blasts Might ‘Hurt’ (= Kill) More Dolphins And Whales

Oil Firms Sonar Blasts Probably Responsible For The Deaths Of Thousands Of Dolphins

Shocking: 260 Dead Dolphins Scattered On Shoreline Of Peru, Just Days After Mysterious U.S. Incident (Video)

See also

The Cove – Oscar Award Winner (‘Best Documentary’)


blue-whale

US Navy to kill, injure ‘thousands’ of whales, dolphins during drills – activists (RT, Nov 11, 2014):

As the US Navy conducts war games off the coasts of California and Hawaii over the next four years, environmentalists are fighting back with legal action over concerns that hundreds, if not thousands, of marine animals will be injured or killed.

The Conservation Council for Hawaii has recently asked a judge to put an end to the naval exercises in the region on the grounds that they violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Washington Post reports. The group previously filed a lawsuit against the war games last year before the exercises began, arguing the drills should not have been approved in the first place.

Read moreUS Navy To Kill, Injure ‘Thousands’ Of Whales, Dolphins During Drills

Navy Study: Sonar, Blasts Might ‘Hurt’ (= Kill) More Dolphins And Whales

See also:

Oil Firms Sonar Blasts Probably Responsible For The Deaths Of Thousands Of Dolphins

Shocking: 260 Dead Dolphins Scattered On Shoreline Of Peru, Just Days After Mysterious U.S. Incident (Video)

Study of Stranded Dolphins Shows Many to Be Near-Deaf (Thanks to Navy Sonar)

Flashback:

The Cove – Oscar Award Winner (‘Best Documentary’)


Navy study: Sonar, blasts might hurt more sea life (AP, May 12, 2012):

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Navy may hurt more dolphins and whales by using sonar and explosives in Hawaii and California under a more thorough analysis that reflects new research and covers naval activities in a wider area than previous studies.

The Navy estimates its use of explosives and sonar may unintentionally cause more than 1,600 instances of hearing loss or other injury to marine mammals each year, according to a draft environmental impact statement that covers training and testing planned from 2014 to 2019. The Navy calculates the explosives could potentially kill more than 200 marine mammals a year.

Read moreNavy Study: Sonar, Blasts Might ‘Hurt’ (= Kill) More Dolphins And Whales

Study of Stranded Dolphins Shows Many to Be Near-Deaf (Thanks to Navy Sonar)

Navy Sonar


Hearing crucial in animals’ ability to feed, navigate


Rescue workers helped a dolphin on Lieutenant Island in Wellfleet, Mass., in March, when two groups of white-sided dolphins wounded up being stranded on Cape Cod. (Steve Heaslip/Cape Cod Times via Associated Press) By

WASHINGTON — New research into the cause of dolphin “strandings’’ — incidents in which weakened or dead dolphins are found near shore — has shown that in some species, many stranded creatures share the same problem.

They are nearly deaf, in a world where hearing can be as valuable as sight.

That understanding — gained from a study of dolphins’ brain activity — could help explain why such intelligent animals do something so seemingly dumb. Unable to use sound to find food or family members, dolphins can wind up weak and disoriented.

Researchers are unsure what is causing the hearing loss: It might be old age, birth defects, or a cacophony of man-made noise in the ocean, including Navy sonar, which has been associated with some marine mammal strandings in recent years.

The news, researchers say, is a warning for those who rescue and release injured dolphins: In some cases, the animals might be going back to a world they can’t hear.

“Rehab is pretty time-consuming and pretty expensive,’’ said David Mann, a professor at the University of South Florida and the study’s lead author. If the dolphin can’t hear, he said, “there’s almost no point in rehabbing it and releasing it.’’

Read moreStudy of Stranded Dolphins Shows Many to Be Near-Deaf (Thanks to Navy Sonar)