Lawsuit To Stop Anti-Sub Device and Save Ocean Mammals

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From page A2 of this morning's Chron:

 

Environmental Groups Say Anti-Sub Device Harms Whales And Other Ocean

Mammals

 

Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer Thursday, August 8, 2002

 

Environmental groups sued Wednesday to stop the U.S. Navy from deploying a

new anti-submarine sonar system that they say could harm sea creatures

wherever it's used in the world's oceans.

 

The federal lawsuit seeks an injunction against using the low-frequency

active sonar system, which critics fear will threaten entire populations of

whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals.

 

It was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by the Natural

Resources Defense Council, Humane Society of the United States, Ocean

Conservancy and other groups. They say that using the sonar, or underwater

radar, would violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered

Species Act and two other federal laws.

 

" We've asked the court (to order) . . . the National Marine Fisheries

Service and the Navy to comply with environmental law before deployment of

the system, " said Andrew Wetzler, senior attorney at the Natural Resources

Defense Council in Los Angeles.

 

" It's hard to overstate the risks posed by the system, " said Wetzler. He

cited a statement by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, created by Congress

to advise the fisheries service, warning that the system has the potential

to adversely affect virtually every species of marine mammal in the world.

 

For the past seven years, environmental groups and dozens of internationally

known scientists have said active sonar is inappropriate for the ocean

because whales and other marine mammals comprehend through sound.

Interference from active sonar could disrupt the animals' ability to

migrate, find food, mate, care for their young and avoid predators, they

say.

 

Although national security is a valid concern, they say, the military must

obey the nation's most basic environmental laws when conducting routine

training exercises.

 

The new technology would greatly increase the range and accuracy of the Navy

in locating and identifying quiet and potentially hostile submarines.

 

Despite the lawsuit's allegations, the Navy remains committed to its

" premier system to counter the real and increasing threat of quiet diesel

submarines, " said Lt. Cmdr. Pauline Storum, Navy spokeswoman.

 

" We have invested more than $10 million to establish a sound body of peer-

reviewed scientific research and have worked closely with the National

Marine Fisheries Service to develop the appropriate guidelines for the

employment of (the system), " Storum said.

 

The Navy's plan is to deploy in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans as many as

four ships, each carrying an array of 18 loudspeakers hanging in the water

at a depth of 200 feet.

 

When the sound strikes an object, echoes return and are picked up by a few

hundred underwater microphones trailing off the vessel. A computer

determines whether the object is a submarine and how far away and how fast

it's moving. The low-frequency sound waves at 140 decibels would be audible

to some species of whale at least 300 miles away, according to the Navy's

environmental review.

 

Each loudspeaker sends out a 215-decibel sound wave at a frequency range of

250 to 500 hertz, which drops off over distance. Naval scientists set 180

decibels as the safety level to protect ocean mammals and their acoustic

environment.

 

Last month the fisheries service approved the Navy's plan with certain

conditions. The Navy must shut down the sonar if animals get as close as 1.2

miles from the ship, a distance at which the naval scientists say the level

drops to 173 decibels.

 

Also, the Navy must study the possible health and behavior effects on marine

mammals in the range of 155 to 180 decibels.

 

" We believe that this operation with the mitigation that we have in place

will have no more than a negligible effect on marine mammals, " said Gordon

Helm, spokesman for the fisheries service.

 

At greatest issue in the Navy's plan is the safety standard set for the

noise level, said Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist for the New York-based

Humane Society of the United States, speaking from Iceland on Sunday.

 

Rose -- who is in the Vetmanneayer Islands to monitor the possible return to

the wild of the orca whale Keiko, star of the film " Free Willy " -- called a

safety exposure level of 180 decibels " completely unacceptable and not

substantiated by data. "

 

" It's not precautionary, as the Marine Mammal Protection Act demands, " Rose

said, " and is out of step with the standards that other countries are

setting. "

 

 

 

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NEW SONAR HELPS DETECT SUBS, BUT CRITICS SAY IT HARMS WHALES

 

WHY THE NAVY WANTS IT: Low frequency active sonar would allow the Navy to

detect quieter submarines at a longer range, giving more time Ðto react. .

 

-- How It Works

 

1. Active sonar detects submarines by sending out pulses of sound.

 

2. The sounds bounce off the submarine . . .

 

3. ... and return as echoes that the ship can detect. .

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The Navy says active sonar arrays are capable of

generating 215 decibels of sound - dangerous for marine mammals - but that

operators will be restricted to 180 decibels, a sound level emitted by some

whales. Critics say long-term effects need to be studied. .

 

-- Precautions

 

Navy personnel will shut down the sonar if marine mammals and sea turtles

are detected within 1.2 nautical miles of the ship. Three methods will be

used:

 

1. Visual monitoring Personnel trained at detecting marine mammals or other

protected species will search the surface during daylight hours.

 

2. Passive sonar Prior to and during use of active sonar, operators will

listen for vocalizing marine mammals.

 

3. High-frequency sonar It works like a commercial " fish finder " to detect

marine mammals that approach the ship.

 

Sources: NOAA; U.S. Navy; Natural Resources Defense Council

 

Associated Press Graphic

 

 

E-mail Jane Kay at jkay.