Bad news for whales and dolphins: Navy to expand sonar testing

[IDemo]

Source: NBC News

SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Navy plans to increase sonar testing over the next five years, even as research it funded reveals worrying signs that the loud underwater noise could disturb whales and dolphins.

Reported mass strandings of certain whale species have increased worldwide since the military started using sonar half a century ago. Scientists think the sounds scare animals into shallow waters where they can become disoriented and wash ashore, but technology capable of close monitoring has emerged only in about the last decade.

Aside from strandings, biologists are concerned marine mammals could suffer prolonged stress from changes in diving, feeding and communication.

Two recent studies off the Southern California coast found that certain endangered blue whales and beaked whales stopped feeding and fled from recordings of sounds similar to military sonar.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/bad-news-whales-dolphins-navy-expand-sonar-testing-2D11749987

[warrant46]

1. Yes those guys riding camels

And living in mud huts are about to swim the ocean with snorkels and attack Bayonne New Jersey

They need to be detected and stopped

[hack89]

5. Because brown people can't operate sophisticated military equipment like submarines?

Really?

What about NK, Iran or China? They have subs.

[warrant46]

6. Subs to do what ?

Nice straw man

The US cannot adequately feed all its citizens, nor educate them, nor provide them with health care, nor repair its failing infrastructure, has done nothing to address climate change, yet can afford to squander billions creating "social profiles" of all its citizens, and profiling people all over the world .. not to mention the trillions spent bombing and occupying other nations and trillions given away to banksters.

[LeftyMom]

8. NK barely has the wealth and know-how to operate a Subway sandwich shop, let alone a sub.

This image is from March. OF 2013.

BE AFRAID, that NK military technology is modernizing, I tell ya! They have trackballs now!

[hack89]

9. They have a large fleet of small subs

Used to infiltrate commandos behind SK lines. The are not sophisticated but are hard as hell to detect.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. I have that same Logitech track ball...

We are all doomed!!!! Seriously, do they not know how ridiculous they look?

[SamKnause]

2. Military

The Military Industrial Complex is a global destructive force.

It is no friend to humans, animals, or the environment.

Their business (and business is booming) is death and destruction.

[20score]

3. Reccing for exposure.

[KoKo]

4. Give to the Environmental Group of your choice...if you have any $'s...

They managed to beat this one back before...but so little money is left to support these groups. And...I don't know which one is the best. "Natural Resources Defense Group" was working on this for years...but then it's hard to know these days because there's so little info coming out from "Enviro Groups" because the funding just isn't there.

[mckara]

7. This May Sound Worse than Reality

Unless naval operations have changed dramatically in recent years, active sonars are rarely used in the real world. Loud pings give away positions of platforms, and in the new world of stealthy military platforms on the land, sea, and air, a loud PING, saying, "Here I am, kill me!!!" is not the tactic of choice for captains wanting their ships to survive.

[adirondacker]

10. They're not fishfinders or typical single/multibeam systems.As hack89 pointed out, they are used to

detect subs. In order to do this in Vast areas of ocean, they will "light up" the region with an extremely loud and variant frequency of acoustics to garner an image used to locate underwater anomalies. I was on a cruise that performed this and I can attest that the acoustics are strong enough to shake and vibrate the hull of any nearby ship. Enough so, that it would rattle belongings off of a shelf if not secured, and annoying enough to keep you up all night even when completely exhausted.

[Stevepol]

14. Ya Think

this sonar business might possibly affect the homing capacities that I'm sure depend to a high degree on the sensitive auditory structures in the whales' ears?

[adirondacker]

17. Without doubt.

They were required, on our cruise, to have observers from external entities for both visual (high powered binoculars) and acoustic (hydrophones) detection of marine mammals within several miles of the test area.
I think what this amounted to was for the whales and dolphins being kept from sitting a few feet from the stage speakers at a two week long Heavy Metal concert, but they still, more than likely, had to unwillingly hear the show.

[tofuandbeer]

11. ...(four letter word warning):

fuck ...(please excuse my language, but this pisses me off).

[freshwest]

12. Dammit. n/t

[blkmusclmachine]

13. Seems we just can't f/ck with the natural environment fast enough.

[another_liberal]

15. Sick bastards.

The Pentagon clearly has no respect for human life. I guess they also couldn't care less about whales?

[lonestarnot]

16. Killing off the rest. Killing machine.

[Earth_First]

19. Paging Paul Watson et. al nt