Judge Restricts Navy's Use of Sonar
For the second time in less than a week, a federal court has found that a Navy anti-submarine training program threatens to subject whales and other sea creatures to harmful blasts of sonar and ordered protective measures in several sensitive zones, including one near Monterey Bay.
The latest ruling, issued Wednesday by U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Laporte of San Francisco, applies to the Navy's use of low-frequency sonar in submarine detection exercises conducted in large areas of the world's oceans. Navy officials agreed to restrictions after Laporte issued a similar ruling in 2002, but she said they failed to take adequate precautions when seeking a five-year renewal of the program last year.
The Navy has said it will shut off the sonar when whales and other vulnerable creatures are spotted. But Laporte said the Navy is relying on visual monitoring, which is unreliable, and on sonar detection, which is limited in range and may miss dolphins and other small animals.
"Marine mammals, many of whom depend on sensitive hearing for essential activities like finding food and mates and avoiding predators, will at a minimum be harassed by the extremely loud and far-traveling (low-frequency) sonar," the magistrate said.
