Is Navy Sonar Killing Whales and Dolphins?
The Effects of Sonar on Cetacean Echolocation and Migration
Aug 18, 2009
Cetacea, the biological order comprised of whales, dolphins, and porpoises, is made up of approximately 80 different species. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), nineteen of these species are depleted or endangered, including beluga, right, and blue whales, and bottlenose dolphins.
Where Are Whale and Dolphin Deaths Occurring?
As discussed by Natalie Barefoot-Watambwa in her University of Miami Law Review article, "Who Is Encroaching Whom? The Balance Between Our Naval Security Needs and the Environment: The 2004 RRPI Provisions as a Response to Encroachment Concerns," sonar caused many whales to beach themselves on March 15, 2000. Per Barefoot-Watambwa, three different species, seventeen whales and dolphins in total, stranded themselves along the Bahamian coastline. The U.S. Navy assumed responsibility for the marine mammal deaths. Its own report concluded that the cetaceans suffered acoustic trauma consistent with sonar usage.
Yet, irresponsible Naval sonar testing continued. In 2005, 37 pilot whales stranded themselves along the coast of North Carolina. According to Pittsburgh Post Gazette reporter Mark Kaufman's January 22, 2006 article, "Sonar Tie Excised from Report on Stranded Whales," substantial evidence linked this mass beaching to sonar usage, including the Navy's initial report on the incident (subsequently changed but the original was uncovered by court order).
Bobbie Sandoz, author of the Earth Portals on-line article "'Beware, the Beached Canaries:' What Stranded Dolphins and Whales are Trying to Tell us About a Global Emergency Beneath the Sea," gives a detailed list of beachings linked to sonar from the mid-1980s up to 2000. Since then, many more whales, dolphins, and porpoises have died from sonar-related causes.
How Does Sonar Cause Cetacean Deaths?
Though certainly not the sole cause of cetacean death (others causes include: ghost nets, pollution, whaling, and even poor boating practices), sonar has had a tremendous, detrimental impact on marine life. There are two theories by which sonar kills whales and dolphins:
"The first theory is that the whales’ sensitive sonar detectors are directly damaged by the strong acoustic waves from the high-intensity sonar, causing pain and disorientation which drives the whales to strand themselves on the beach. This theory explains the ruptures and hemorrhaging found in some of the whale and dolphin victims. The second theory is that the exposure to the loud sonar noise causes the whales to become disoriented and confused, compelling them to the surface too quickly which causes decompression sickness otherwise known as 'the bends' to SCUBA divers." Natalie Barefoot-Watambwa, Who Is Encroaching Whom? The Balance Between Our Naval Security Needs and the Environment: The 2004 RRPI Provisions as a Response to Encroachment Concerns, 59 U. MIAMI L. REV. 577, 580 -84 (2005).
Whichever theory is correct is irrelevant. The general scientific consensus is that sonar kills cetaceans.
The Solution
Obviously, Naval sonar is important to America's national defense. Primarily used to detect enemy submarines, sonar could potentially eliminate a serious threat. Doing away with it altogether would be illogical.
Limiting its use, however, both in frequency and in geographical scope, seems a reasonable solution to avoid unnecessary animal deaths. Conducting tests away from whale and dolphin migratory paths, particularly during times of peace and in locations where an attack on America is improbable, should be common sense. The use of "passive sonar" (listening for sounds from potential nearby vessels) to determine the existence or absence of cetaceans in the area before flipping the sonar on-switch also could curb animal deaths. Simply having greater awareness of, and consideration for, seasonal and migratory locations for these endangered creatures could lead to their preservation.
Sonar is important and should be used when needed. At all other times, its use should be considered alongside the environmental impacts it may have. Hopefully, responsible people can then make responsible decisions.
See this site for a more detailed analysis of this and other issues affecting marine mammals.
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