James Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist based in western North Carolina, where he tries to put degrees in marine biology and journalism to good use.
It's not over until the Supremes rule on any appeal, but yesterday U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper became my new hero when she issued a ruling that ...
...severely limited the Navy's ability to use mid-frequency sonar on a training range off the Southern California coast, ruling that the loud sounds would harm whales and other marine mammals if not tightly controlled.(WaPo, Jan. 4)As I wrote in the previous post, this could have far-reaching implications for the long-standing war of priorities between the national security hawks and environmental doves.
In particular, Cooper banned the use of the sonar within 12 nautical miles of the California coast, expanded from 1,100 yards to 2,200 yards the Navy's proposed "shut down" zone in which sonar must be turned off whenever a marine mammal is spotted, required monitoring for the presence of animals for one hour before exercises involving sonar begin, and required that two National Marine Fisheries Service-trained lookouts be posted for monitoring during exercises. The judge also forbade sonar use in the Catalina Basin, an area with many marine mammals.So nice to start the year off the right note for a change. Let's hope the Navy gives up and agrees with live with the restrictions instead of taking their case for a noisier ocean back to the appeal courts.....
Joel Reynolds, who argued the case for the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups, called the ruling "the most significant environmental mitigation that a federal court has ever ordered the U.S. Navy to adopt in its training with mid-frequency sonar."
Comments
...and so they should! We don't see the air force bombing raindeer, just because they're in the way, these days. In the past, belugas in the St-Laurence river were bombed because of their convenient white colour make them challenging targets. Let's hope that the navy will smarten up.
Posted by: Pierre Caron | January 4, 2008 2:24 PM
"...two National Marine Fisheries Service-trained lookouts..."
How long will it take to put two young sergeants through the training program?
Posted by: Lassi Hippeläinen | January 5, 2008 6:11 AM
As I wrote in the previous post, this could have far-reaching implications for the long-standing war of priorities between the national security hawks and environmental doves.
Score one for the Doves! Go Doves! LOL!
Dave Briggs :~)
Posted by: Dave Briggs | January 7, 2008 4:03 PM