Legal battle over use of sonar

The National Resources Defence Council and other US conservation organisations have been successful in gaining a temporary restraining order against use of mid frequency sonar during the Rim of the Pacific  (RIMPAC) exercise currently taking place off Hawaii. The order means that no sonar can be used for 10 court days, at which point a hearing will take place or another form of agreement that the parties can come to, to agree appropriate mitigation measures.
 
A National Defence Exemption was obtained last week to allow the navy non-compliance with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for a six month period. However the temporary restraining order was granted under another piece of US environmental legislation, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
 
The military exercise is taking place in a 210,000 square nautical mile area near the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument - created just two weeks ago by President Bush. RIMPAC exercise participants also include Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Korea, Peru and the UK.  

The law suit was filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other US conservation groups after the Navy ignored requests for a safe resolution of the problem and forged ahead with its sonar plans for the biennial RIMPAC maneuvers. High intensity, mid-frequency sonar is a technology that has been directly associated with mass strandings of marine mammals around the world.

Numerous mass strandings and mortality incidents have been associated with sonar use, including events in Hawaii, Washington State, North Carolina, the Canary Islands and the Bahamas. Whales exposed to high-intensity sonar have been found bleeding from the eyes and ears, with lesions in their organ tissue. Biologists worry that whales found dying on beaches are only the tip of an iceberg, and that many more are dying at sea.

"Whales and other marine mammals shouldn't have to die for practice," said Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney at NRDC and director of its Marine Mammal Protection Project. "The Navy has more than enough room in the oceans to train effectively without injuring or killing endangered whales and other marine species. When the Navy decides to stage a war game in the middle of some of the richest underwater habitat on earth, it is legally obligated to take simple, common sense steps to protect that ecosystem."

Preventive measures that NRDC has identified and which the Navy has refused to accept include a larger safety zone at all times around the sonar source, as the Navy uses for other sonar systems; adding an extra spotter on board ships during all sonar training; reducing the sonar power level at night or at other times when spotters' visibility is compromised; and avoiding areas in or near significant marine mammal habitat like whale breeding and feeding areas and migratory routes.

During the last RIMPAC exercise in 2004, a group of over 150 melon-headed whales stranded in Hanalei Bay on the island of Kauai following a Navy sonar exercise. After that incident, NRDC and other organizations approached the Navy about the need for planning, review, and mitigation measures to prevent a recurrence. The filing of litigation by NRDC followed the Navy's refusal to include adequate protective measures or to obtain legally required permits and review.

WDCS has written to the US government in support of strengthened mitigation measures to be undertaken by all of the countries involved in the RIMPAC exercise.

Visit the US NRDC website for more information, and to find out what you can do to help: www.nrdc.org

Source: WDCS