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U.S. Navy Stopped From Harming Dolphins, Whales, And Walruses: Banned From Using Sonar That Messes With Marine Life

By Alap Naik Desai
Published on: 08:31 PST, Jul 16, 2016

The U.S. Navy has been ordered to lower the levels of sonar that it uses because it was harming marine life. The sonar being used in the nation’s oceans were having an adverse effect of dolphins, whales, walruses, and other marine mammals.

A federal appeals court has reversed a decision taken by a lower court earlier about the usage of low-frequency sonar. The appeals court noted that the U.S. Navy was wrongly allowed to use the particular type of sonar despite knowing that it could potentially harm marine mammals including whales, dolphins, and other aquatic life that rely on sonar or echolocation techniques to navigate underwater. Essentially, the appellate panel has sent the matter back to the lower court for reconsideration.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision upholding approval granted in 2012 for the Navy to use low-frequency sonar for training, testing, and routine operations, reported ABC News. Apparently, U.S. officials shouldn’t have permitted the usage of the low-frequency sonar in the oceans that surround the nation as well as in waters that are protected under various international treaties.

The U.S. Navy was granted permission to use the low-frequency sonar in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea, under authority granted in 2012, reported RT. The approval carried a validity of five years and would be up for review after the time-period elapsed. The rules drafted in 2012, adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service, permitted the U.S. Navy to use the low-frequency sonar. Worryingly, the agency even approved the Navy’s plan to deploy 18 deep-water loudspeakers over the same time-frame.

Additionally, it was asked to be on the constant lookout for the presence of any marine animal in the vicinity. In case such a creature was spotted anywhere near the ship, the Navy was supposed to shut down completely or delay the deployment of sonar equipment. However, the rules permitted the Navy to affect about 30 whales and two dozen pinnipeds, marine mammals with front and rear flippers such as seals and sea lions, each year.

Apart from the low-frequency sonar, the Navy was banned from using loud sonar pulses, which have a higher intensity for better clarity, but lower travel distance underwater, near coastlines and in certain protected waters. Many environmental groups, under the leadership of Natural Resources Defense Council, jointly filed a lawsuit in San Francisco in 2012. They argued the permission granted to the U.S. Navy was in direct violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Can’t the Navy function without the sonar? Echolocation is a very basic and essential piece of technology for maritime vessels. Given the fact that visibility underwater is very limited and sonar can accurately detect objects and threats well in advance, the Navy considers sonar as an indispensable part of its arsenal.

Unfortunately, since many marine mammals use sonar as well, the Navy’s technology causes many problems for these poor creatures, argued environmentalists. Artificial sonar can cause the mammals to get confused. Instances of these creatures abandoning their well-documented habitats have been recorded. Moreover, synthetic sonar can impede the creatures’ ability to navigate, communicate, mate, and catch prey, claim marine experts.

Now, the appellate court has ruled 3-0 that the approval granted in 2012 meet a section of the protection act requiring peacetime oceanic programs to have “the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammals”, reported The Guardian. During the ruling, Judge Ronald Gould noted,

“The result is that a meaningful proportion of the world’s marine mammal habitat is under-protected.”

In its defense, the U.S. Navy noted that in the 11 years of deployment of the Low Frequency Active Sonar, there hasn’t been a single observable instance of death or serious injury to the marine mammals in question. Unfortunately, by the U.S. Navy’s own admission, the maritime war games that routinely use sonar could result in the death of many sea creatures.

[Photo by John J. Mike/U.S. Navy/Getty Images]

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