Dolphin Beaching Came After Sub Exercise
KEY WEST, Fla. - The Navy and marine wildlife experts are investigating whether the beaching of dozens of dolphins in the Florida Keys followed the use of sonar by a submarine on a training exercise off the coast.
More than 20 rough-toothed dolphins have died since Wednesday's beaching by about 70 of the marine mammals, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary spokeswoman Cheva Heck said Saturday.
A day before the dolphins swam ashore, the USS Philadelphia had conducted exercises with Navy SEALs off Key West, about 45 miles from Marathon, where the dolphins became stranded.
Navy officials refused to say if the submarine, based at Groton, Conn., used its sonar during the exercise.
Some scientists surmise that loud bursts of sonar, which can be heard for miles in the water, may disorient or scare marine mammals, causing them to surface too quickly and suffer the equivalent of what divers know as the bends — when sudden decompression forms nitrogen bubbles in tissue.
"This is absolutely high priority," said Lt. Cdr. Jensin Sommer, spokeswoman for Norfolk, Va.-based Naval Submarine Forces. "We are looking into this. We want to be good stewards of the environment, and any time there are strandings of marine mammals, we look into the operations and locations of any ships that might have been operating in that area."
Experts are conducting necropsies on the dead dolphins, looking for signs of trauma that could have been inflicted by loud noises.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050306/ap_on_re_us/stranded_dolphins
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For decades, whales and dolphins and other marine mammals have been beaching themselves "mysteriously" on the shores of the Caribbean and other areas around the Atlantic Ocean AFTER sonar exercises by the U.S. Navy, NATO and others.
Many organizations, especially the National Resources Defense Council, have fought a battle to get these organizations to stop using this technology in certain prime areas and at certain prime times of the year when endangered and threatened sea species are in these areas for breeding and other essential purposes.
These organizations continue to this day to ignore these pleas and court battles are underway to BAN SONAR TESTING at certain times of the year and in certain key survival areas for these species.
If this gross disrespect for the RIGHT TO LIFE of all creatures angers you, here is a place that you can go to voice your concern for the threatened survival of these innocent and magnificent sea creatures:
http://www.savebiogems.org/whales/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52483
Thank You....
KEY WEST, Fla. - The Navy and marine wildlife experts are investigating whether the beaching of dozens of dolphins in the Florida Keys followed the use of sonar by a submarine on a training exercise off the coast.
More than 20 rough-toothed dolphins have died since Wednesday's beaching by about 70 of the marine mammals, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary spokeswoman Cheva Heck said Saturday.
A day before the dolphins swam ashore, the USS Philadelphia had conducted exercises with Navy SEALs off Key West, about 45 miles from Marathon, where the dolphins became stranded.
Navy officials refused to say if the submarine, based at Groton, Conn., used its sonar during the exercise.
Some scientists surmise that loud bursts of sonar, which can be heard for miles in the water, may disorient or scare marine mammals, causing them to surface too quickly and suffer the equivalent of what divers know as the bends — when sudden decompression forms nitrogen bubbles in tissue.
"This is absolutely high priority," said Lt. Cdr. Jensin Sommer, spokeswoman for Norfolk, Va.-based Naval Submarine Forces. "We are looking into this. We want to be good stewards of the environment, and any time there are strandings of marine mammals, we look into the operations and locations of any ships that might have been operating in that area."
Experts are conducting necropsies on the dead dolphins, looking for signs of trauma that could have been inflicted by loud noises.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050306/ap_on_re_us/stranded_dolphins
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For decades, whales and dolphins and other marine mammals have been beaching themselves "mysteriously" on the shores of the Caribbean and other areas around the Atlantic Ocean AFTER sonar exercises by the U.S. Navy, NATO and others.
Many organizations, especially the National Resources Defense Council, have fought a battle to get these organizations to stop using this technology in certain prime areas and at certain prime times of the year when endangered and threatened sea species are in these areas for breeding and other essential purposes.
These organizations continue to this day to ignore these pleas and court battles are underway to BAN SONAR TESTING at certain times of the year and in certain key survival areas for these species.
If this gross disrespect for the RIGHT TO LIFE of all creatures angers you, here is a place that you can go to voice your concern for the threatened survival of these innocent and magnificent sea creatures:
http://www.savebiogems.org/whales/takeaction.asp?step=2&item=52483
Thank You....
