That’s right, we are gonna use sonar just for spite now and mess your blubbery asses all the fuck up. Navy wins against Army (of environmental groups).
The Navy challenged restrictions that included shutting down sonar when a marine mammal is spotted within 2,200 yards of a vessel.
[I]Sir, I believe that’s a whale over there. We should shut down our sonar.
No it isn’t.
But I just saw the spray from its…
I didn’t see it and until I actually see it without the use of a telescope or binoculars and through the use of my two hands made into circles, it is not a whale.[/I]
Well, some scientists have come to the conclusion that sonar use is linked to whale strandings, and others have determined that the sonar actually gives them the bends, and can even cause organ damage for deep-divers. Oh, these guys too.
I haven’t personally read any of the studies, though; I just googled “sonar whales” and read what articles popped up under semi-legitimate sources.
If the Chinese promise not to buy any more attack submarines from the French and all other nations we might ever be in conflict with, including China, agree and adhere to never putting another sub in the water, then we’ll stop using sonar.
Until then, whut? Keep pinging those contacts, squids.
Except it isn’t about using sonar, it’s about using sonar in training camps when whales are spotted nearby, not when the submarine is actually active, and they didn’t try to get sonar banned completely. That doesn’t sound unreasonable to me.
Actually, it was about shutting sonar down during training exercises in open sea. Where would we theoretically have them practice fleet coordination and sub hunting, to avoid whales? Keep in mind travel times from various naval bases on the west coast. Me, I’d rather them be prepared.
‘Eat whales!’ or ‘Eat it, Wales!’ would have made for more interesting subjects than whether using the Machine Which Goes Ping underwater or not is a good idea.
I was of the same opinion as well until I saw a program a few years back addressing this issue. It showed whales going apeshit in the vicinity of a Navy ship using its active sonar damaging their ears and brains. The active sonar is more of a continuous screeching sound rather than a simple ping as popularized in movies.
I actually have been watching Whale Wars on Animal Planet. Maybe the right-minded, rational thinkers that man the ship that hunts Japanese Whale killers can clear this up for us.
