Is Navy plan a threat to world's oldest killer whales?

[unhappycamper]

newborn killer whale calf follows its mother Dec. 6 off San Juan Island, Wash.


Is Navy plan a threat to world's oldest killer whales?
By Rob Hotakainen | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Friday, December 24, 2010

WASHINGTON — Could Ruffles and Granny be in trouble?

At 59, Ruffles is the oldest known male orca in the world, one of an estimated 150 orcas known to inhabit the Puget Sound and the coast of Washington state. Granny is his 99-year-old mother.

Environmentalists fear for the safety of the whales as the U.S. Navy prepares to expand its operations in its Northwest Training Range Complex, which stretches from the coastline of Washington state to northern California.

"They're all very susceptible," said Howard Garrett, the president of Orca Network, a nonprofit group based in Washington state. "The Navy is single-minded and they're focused, and the whales are very much a secondary concern to them."

The group is among the many opponents in Washington state and California lining up against the Navy's plan.