[CPEO-MEF] Navy Cleared To Use a Sonar Despite Fears of Injuring Whales

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Navy Cleared To Use a Sonar Despite Fears of Injuring Whales
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 16, 2002; Page A03

The Navy won approval yesterday to deploy two ships that use 
controversial low-frequency sonar to detect faraway submarines, despite 
continuing questions about whether the system's loud blasts will injure 
whales and other ocean mammals.

The ruling by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grants 
the Navy an exemption from federal rules that guard marine mammals from 
incidental injury. The agency concluded that protective measures 
required of the Navy will ensure that the effects of the sonar will be 
"negligible" and will not undermine the long-term health of whales and 
other ocean mammals.

However, the five-year authorization requires the Navy to investigate 
unanswered questions regarding how the low-frequency sonar affects whale 
behavior, and whether it can silence the songs of large whales in 
particular. It also forbids the Navy from using the system when ocean 
mammals are within 1.1 nautical miles, since the force of the noise can 
damage their hearing and disrupt their activities within that range.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10105-2002Jul15.html?referer=email

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