OCR board members and Acoustic Ecology director Jim Cummings sent a follow-up article on the 2004 Hanalei Bay melon headed whale “embayment” citing a paper by Bob Brownell which put the “lunar connection” of this event to rest. Jim’s blog…
Tag: sonar
Lunar connection on Hanalei Bay stranding nixed.
On the morning of July 3 2004 there was an agitated aggregation of Melon Headed whales in Hanalei Bay, Hawai’i. This event was concurrent to the RIMPAC international naval exercise which happens every two years. As is typical with these…
US Navy and National Marine Fisheries Service work on Pacific Northwest sonar guidelines
“The July 13 Federal Register reported that the Navy wants NMFS to permit up to 14 dead marine mammals from its proposed sonar use up to 250 miles from the Northwest coast…” In ongoing discussions about defining the Pacific Northwest…
Cornwall Mass Stranding Event
The mass stranding event (MSE) in Cornwall UK last year points to Navy sonar. But if you read through the very comprehensive report you can see why it is difficult to arrive at unimpeachable scientific conclusions. The report is here:…
Cornwall Stranding Report
The mass stranding event (MSE) in Cornwall UK last year points to Navy sonar. But if you read through the very comprehensive report you can see why it is difficult to arrive at unimpeachable scientific conclusions. The report is here:…
Minke Whales harassed by Navy Sonar
Yet another unfortunate event involving whales and mid-frequency sonar; two minke whales were seen “porpoising” at high speeds in waters where military operations were taking place. Observers also heard extremely loud sonar concurrent to the sightings. Minke whales are the…
Supreme Court hears Endangered Species Act Case
Yesterday the Supreme Court heard the Navy Sonar case that originated in California early this year when the Whitehouse attempted to overrule a district court judgment on the US Navy’s proposed sonar exercises off of the California cost. The actual…
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…
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…