Navy Wins OK for New Sonar Despite Fears for Whales

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From the front page of today's Chron:

 

NAVY WINS OK FOR NEW SONAR DESPITE FEARS FOR WHALES

 

Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer Tuesday, July 16, 2002

 

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Rejecting warnings of potential injury to whales and dolphins, a federal

agency has approved plans by the Navy to deploy a powerful sonar system to

search out enemy submarines.

 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday that the

Navy could start using the sonar system -- the underwater equivalent of

radar - - in 80 percent of the world's oceans.

 

The new rule, expected to be published today in the Federal Register,

exempts the Navy from provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that

prohibit harassing sea animals.

 

" We know the decision is controversial, " said Rebecca Lent, deputy director

of regulatory programs. " But we're confident that we made a decision based

on science and public input that will protect marine mammals and allow the

Navy system to operate.

 

" We don't expect any marine mammal deaths, " Lent added. " If we get evidence

of any injury or death that we link to a naval activity, we'll re-examine

the letter of authorization. "

 

The coast of California is off-limits to the surveillance technology, which

the Navy says it needs to find silent-running submarines.

 

When the Navy applied for approval in California, the state's Coastal

Commission raised questions over possible harm to marine mammals and the

Navy withdrew its application. Twenty-two other states have authorized the

system off their shores.

 

The Navy will not apply to operate off the California coast " until such time

as plans to operate near California have been finalized, " said spokeswoman

Lt. Commander Pauline Storum.

 

The Navy wants to use four sonar ships in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

On each ship, an array of 18 loudspeakers, each the size of a Volkswagen,

will hang into the ocean to a depth of about 200 feet.

 

Each ship's array operates at a frequency range of 250 to 500 hertz and

emits sound at 215 decibels. When the sound strikes an object, echoes return

and get picked up by a couple of hundred underwater microphones trailing off

the back of the vessel. A computer determines whether the object is a

submarine and how far away and how fast it's moving.

 

Before the Pentagon can deploy the low-frequency active sonar, or LFA,

anywhere in the world, the Navy has to apply for a permit from the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, identifying the waters and listing

the kinds of animals that live in the area.

 

The Navy must show that it will prevent harm to marine mammals and sea

turtles by keeping them away from the sonar ships, which at close range

produce high decibel levels.

 

Sound in the deep ocean can injure the ears and cause internal hemorrhaging

among marine mammals as well as interfere with communication, breeding,

feeding and migration, according to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

 

Within six-tenths of a mile, the sound level from the ships would be well

above the maximum level considered safe for a whale's hearing, which is 180

decibels, according to the Navy.

 

Even 100 miles from the sound source, the sound level would be from 150 to

160 decibels. The Navy acknowledges that the level might be high enough to

disrupt whale migrations at 120 decibels.

 

Until now, the controversial surveillance system has been used only in

research. But it has drawn opposition from the Humane Society of the United

States, Earth Island Institute in San Francisco and 44 scientists from 13

universities and research institutions.

 

They assert that there is a lack of evidence as to which decibel levels

interfere with underwater species dependent on acoustics for survival and

warn that many animals could die in the ocean uncounted by observers.

 

Joel Reynolds, a Natural Resources Defense Council attorney who has been

tracking the Navy's technology for seven years, is considering litigation.

 

David Phillips, executive director of Earth Island Institute, said, " The

Navy's system has the potential to deafen every marine mammal living in the

world's oceans. Alternative systems exist that don't have adverse impacts on

whales and other marine life. "

 

E-mail Jane Kay at jkay.