On Wednesday, November 12, 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. Navy is allowed to conduct sonar-training exercises off the southern California coast without restrictions designed to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.
The decision consigned 37 species of marine mammals, including sea lions and endangered blue whales, to certain peril. This unconscionable ruling could well expand the scope of the East Coast training facilities that the Navy proposes, including a massive sonar training range along the ocean bottom between North Carolina and Florida.
The right whale is a 40-ton, 50-foot-long creature that whalers virtually eradicated in the 19th century. Fewer than 400 are known to exist - a number so perilously low that researchers consider every living right whale vital to the survival of the species. The whales spend their winters in the waters of Georgia and northeast Florida, raising their young. It is the only known calving grounds for the right whale.
In 2000 a mass stranding of whales on the beaches of the Bahamas was linked to U.S. Navy exercises using mid-frequency sonar. Many of the beached whales died, bleeding from the ears and brain. Sonar produces intense sound waves that probe the ocean to reveal underwater objects. The waves spread tens and even hundreds of miles and create ear-splitting noise comparable to rocket blasts. Navy sonar, in fact, reaches 235 decibels - the Saturn V rocket launch registered 220. Even low-frequency sonar affects whale behavior, and mid-frequency sonar can be lethal.
Still, the U.S. Navy proposes to construct a sonar range off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. The planned site is 625 square miles. This, if allowed, will result in the signing of a death warrant for the right whale.
Though, of course, we do appreciate our country’s concerns for security, we implore you to prevent the mass devastation of the right whales, loggerhead turtles and manatees (among other species).
The time is now for Georgia’s leaders – and the leaders of our nation – to deliver a clear message to the world: “We are compassionate. We are of the earth. We will work as one to protect the fragile creatures that share this planet with us”. Do not allow this ill-advised and callous plan to form the environmental legacy of our country.
The St. Marys EarthKeepers and concerned citizens,
St. Marys, GA
www.stmaryearthkeepers.com
No comments:
Post a Comment