I am including a bit more on the current end-run on the Endangered Species Act (ESA). I mentioned this issue in last week’s e-mail, which was generated in response to the proposed changes to the Act in the Federal Register. The easiest…
Month: August 2008
March 2007 Strandings
I have been notified of two recent stranding events associated with noise pollution. The first is an account of three separate strandings of beaked whales in Japan this May. The article also relates that over 81 whales have stranded in…
LFA Judgement
Judge LaPorte form the 9th District courts has approved a settlement on the SURTASS-LFA sonar (Surveillance Towed Array Sonar System – Low Frequency Active). This settlement continues to limit the deployment of Low frequency Active Sonar to certain areas in…
NYT article on whales and security
This NYT editorial is a fresh read on the recent movement on the fallout form the California Coastal Commission/NRDC v. the US Navy: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/opinion/02wed3.html?ex=1215662400&en=bb5b0e615dff8a4d&ei=5070&emc=eta1 While we can hope for the best judgment in this case from the nation’s highest court, given…
New Orleans ASA report
I have just returned from an Acoustical Society meeting held in New Orleans last week where I presented a paper on using natural occurring sounds and biological thresholds as a basis for an ocean noise criteria. Our proposed “metric” is simple to…
Navy confirms negative affects of sonar
Nature journal filed a Freedom of Information Acts (FOIA) request for a Navy report on the impacts of Sonar on whales. The article is below and is remarkable because it indicates behavioral effects, not just catastrophic effects such as stranding or…
CCC Limits Navy on Mid-frequency Sonar
In an unprecedented ruling yesterday afternoon, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper constrained the Navy from deploying mid-frequency sonar in state waters. While at first brush this case may appear to be about establishing a balance between national security and the environment, in…
ESA and NEPA threats
While the following issues are not specifically about ocean noise pollution, they will impact the regulatory environment that allows us to protect our ocean from the “death of a thousand (ticker-tape) cuts.” Depending on how these issues fall, all of…
CCC v. Navy round 1
The following article is the latest on the California Coastal Commission vs. the US Navy on the Southern California Training Area. The article is a good summary of how the lines are drawn. The last three paragraphs are informative regarding…
CCC limits Navy on MF Sonar
In an unprecedented ruling yesterday afternoon, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper constrained the Navy from deploying mid-frequency sonar in state waters. While at first brush this case may appear to be about establishing a balance between national security and the environment, in…