Judge Issues Injunction to Stop New Navy Sonar
Federal Judge Elizabeth Laporte announced that she is planning to issue a permanent injuction to limit the use of a new high-power navy sonar, believed to cause injury and even death to marine animals. One stipulation of the injunction requires that Navy sonar experts and environmental advocates work together to negotiate the conditions of the injuction.
LFA sonar (low frequency active) uses blasts of sound of up to 215 decibels to detect submarines over long distances. Studies indicate that these tests have caused death in brown trout, a species very similar to our pacific salmon. In addition, during testing here in Puget Sound, marine mammals were observed to have exhibited erratic behavior and even beached themselves. While scientists can not be certain that the sonar testing is directly linked to this behavior, there are strong indications that the two are connected.
Environmentalists are quick to point out that marine wildlife in Puget Sound faces enough challenges already. While stopping this potentially destructive sonar is move in the right direction, it only serves to prevent more harm. Salmon, orca whales, and pacific herring still face a long road to recovery, to name just a few species.
To read the complete story, see the following articles:
Judge Limits Navy's Use of New Sonar | Bremerton Sun
http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2003-08-27/
local/241844.shtml
Judge Stops Deplyment of Navy Sonar | Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A50103-2003Aug26.html
