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Federal Judge Bars Navy Sonar Blasting
In a positive turn of events, last week, a federal judge in Los Angeles issued a preliminary injunction barring the Navy from carrying out the sonar blasts. U.S. District Judge Marie Cooper also warned that the exercises had the potential to cause widespread damage to nearly 30 species of marine mammals—some endangered—including blue whales, humpbacks, gray whales, dolphins, porpoises and other species. Whales exposed to high-intensity sonar have been found bleeding from the eyes and ears, with lesions in their organ tissue. Marine biologists worry that whales found dying on beaches are only the tip of the iceberg, and that many more are dying at sea unbeknownst to scientists. Overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that the Navy's sonar exercises are the cause of the mass strandings. Five environmental organizations filed a lawsuit in March against the Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service stating the blasts violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act in an attempt to halt the exercises. However, the Department of Defense exempted the Navy from complying with federal laws cited by the organizations due to national security needs. At one Commission hearing, Rear Admiral Len Hering defended the Navy's sonar exercises by exclaiming "We're at war, you know!" Obviously, the Navy believes that our conflicts with other nations take precedence over the survival of other species. In this sense, the Navy is fighting not only a War on Terror, but also a potentially genocidal war against some of the ocean's most incredible and precious creatures, viewing them as mere collateral damage when they are in fact non-human casualties of war. Fortunately Judge Cooper noted with near certainty that the sonar blasts would put the animals in clear danger. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “she called a series of mitigations proposed by the Navy to protect the whales ‘woefully inadequate and ineffectual.’” The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Navy are expected to appeal Cooper’s decision. Please contact Judge Cooper to thank her for barring the Navy from the blasting exercises. Write to: The Honorable Florence-Marie Cooper |
In February, IDA reported that the Defense Department had officially exempted the Navy from compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (