Nearly 500 whales beach themselves every year due to an excessive use of sonar. Military passive sonar (sound navigation and ranging) is killing and causing whales to avoid their major feeding and breeding grounds while temporarily deflecting from the high frequency sound coming from this unknown source. This event is raising hell in the political sector. Scientists have found many similarities between all the beached whales that have been in the same area that military sonar was being used. Military sonar is affecting the life of whales and their natural habitat for the worst.
Passive sonar allows military ships to detect submarines and other vessels without transmitting their own signals to other ships since World War I. Sonar allows a shipmate to be able to know the exact speed, coordinates, and how big the ship or submarine is. According to NOAA, “The technology steadily improved, and by World War II, was used once again for military purposes. Sonar is messing with the way whales communicate. In the 1960s, the development of digital computer technology made plotting of sonar data much easier”1 The military was going to try and communicate with whales but the whales were not found at their regular sites.
Many whales avoid breeding grounds and feeding areas in relation to several different species of whales being beached have had some kind of trauma beforehand. Scientists are starting to research and discover that most of them were bleeding around the brain and ears. Due to all of the naval ships in the area, people began to question if they had any part of the beaching. “Most previous attempts to determine whether military sonar use and whale strandings are correlated have looked at mass stranding records of beaked whales an...
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...der an immediate halt to any Navy training exercises. Instead, it requires the NOAA to re-evaluate the Navy permits under the terms of the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act.”5 sdf
(my opinion) I honestly do not care either way about military sonar simply because I agree with both sides of the argument. Yes it kills thousands of marine animals but it also allows the Navy to keep the people safe from any “ninja” submarines that might want to bomb the U.S. or what not and potentially kill millions. Military will continue to sonar.
Works Cited
3)http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&sid=5fc497ae-909a-4d43-9478-1c0934c849c5%40sessionmgr110&hid=118&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=48811457
4) Bohannon, John. "NATO Asked To Silence Sonar." Science 302.5645 (2003): 547. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Sonar is being used in boats and submarines in order for them to navigate through any ocean. The use of sonar benefits submarines because the sound waves produced from the sonar sweep across the ocean floor revealing obstructive objects in the path and sends this information back to the submarine. Some systems operate at more than 235 decibels, producing sound waves that can travel across tens or even hundreds of miles of ocean (Lethal Sounds). This shows us how powerful these sound waves can be. The sonar sound is only beneficial to humans and marine mammals such as whales are taking the damage. The sounds produced can blow out their hearing and throw them off course while migrating just because they are trying to get away from this deathly noise.
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society "The Makah Whale Hunt" 02 Online. Internet 3 Febuary 2003. Available www:seashepherd.org/media_info/asp.
“… building a tank the size of Rhode Island wouldn’t be large enough for a six-ton male killer whale such as Tilikum, an animal capable of swimming 100 miles a day,” states an anonymous whale expert. Whales have been in captivity since 1861 when P.T. Barnum displayed the first live whale that was captured in Canada. However, Barnum had no idea how to care for the mammal and it died after only a week in captivity. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Being up close with killer whales could give us some clues about how they interact with each other, including physical behavior, their dialect, and how their pods work together as a family unit. However, what we are finding is that whales who belong in the wild are suffering in captivity. Killer whales have no record of ever harming a human being in the wild. In captivity, there have been many incidents of killer whales harming or even killing their trainers. What would cause them to do this in captivity, but not in the wild? They have been known to resort to aggression toward themselves and each other, in what scientist believe to be a stress induced behavior. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Evidence against having these wild animals in captivity is increasing and we need reevaluate the value of capturing and holding killer whales for our educational purposes, enjoyment, and profit.
Los Angeles Times, altered oceans: sentinels under attack. July 31, 2006. By Kenneth R. Weiss
The next method that was discussed in the article was side-scan sonar systems. This method uses an object that is shaped like a torpedo; this is then towed behind the ship at a depth that is around 10 percent of the width. The side-scan method uses two fan shaped beams, as the beams reflect off of the sea floor there is a scan line that when plotted with the other scan lines an image is created. This method also has it’s downsides as well radiometric artifacts are harder to distinguish than geometric artifacts, this can lead to some artifacts not being noticed or being confused with natural objects such as rocks.
Imagine a warm day in February, a day that you have been waiting for forever, to see a majestic sea mammal, an orca (commonly known as a killer whale). The show was called “Dine with Shamu”, the orcas were doing amazing tricks and splashing the kids in the front row. After the show was finished, you make your way under the stadium to get a picture with the star of the show, Tilikum. As you wait for him to show himself, a siren goes off and sends everyone into a panic. You look at the crystal clear pool behind the glass, and see Tilikum dragging a women’s body down to the bottom of the pool. Your viewpoint of killer whales is forever changed. These are the kind of situations that should and could be prevented. According to Sally Kestin of the Sun-Sentinel, Mammals actually live longer in the wild then in aquariums. There is a problem with keeping marine mammals in captivity because of Tilikum’s attack on trainers, other various attacks, how the orca industry started and the psychological effects of captivity. The problem could be solved by using sea pens and making more laws protecting marine mammals. According to Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel, Sea pens are enclosures in the ocean that help make killer whales feel more at home.
Francis, David R. “Communities of Killer Whales.” The Christian Science Monitor. National Newspapers Core, 15
The Makah’s seemingly domestic issue of whaling has and is taking on a larger international problem. The United States plays a large part in policing the hunting of whales, one of the most recent examples being the U.S.’s ...
In this research report I will discuss the Killer Whales unique characteristics; complex migratory patterns, how and why it is endangered, and most importantly how we can help them.
whales, the toothed whales. Two sides of the argument were strongly represented in this article, along with the common practices of dismissing the opposite opinion. Instead of building off each others opinion and research, scientists are quick to dismiss the opposing opinion as false or incredible. Without an understanding of the other conclusions, working together and analyzing each other's evidence along with yours, minor set backs are relied on to keep us moving forward.
...pollution. Natural causes include the avoidance of predators or weather conditions as well as the opportunity to chase prey or the unfortunate sickness of one whale in the pod. Pilot whales are often the victims of a mass stranding for a number of reasons. They are very social creatures, so if one member of the pod becomes sick and ventures ashore, the other will follow. This can be seen when recently, in Florida, approximately 50 pilot whales were beached, starting at a low number and steadily increasing with the screeches of communication between one another ( ). It is natural for one whale in a pod of pilot whale to follow another onto shore, being such gregarious creatures; however, the fact that they are deep sea whales emerging from great depths to beach themselves, is not a common feat. yet scientists are finding that it does in fact play a major role.
Lessons learned from past mistakes provide a blueprint for the way ahead. Making assumptions is a key pitfall in intelligence doctrine taught in today’s military. Pearl Harbor is an example of what can be a catastrophic course of events when you make assumptions. Radar was a new technology at the time and still in experimental stages, the lack of understanding of this new technology contributed to the events surrounding the attack. Radar is still used today and has improved considerably since 1941; lessons learned from this battle played a key role in this technologies
"Does Military Sonar Kill Marine Wildlife?" Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.
Looking at Figure C, we can say more than 200,000 blue whales has been killed as results of overhunting. In 1966, the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling for blue whales, but illegal hunting still occurs (NOAA). While blue whales are no longer being threatened by overhunting, their population is drastically depleted. Like many other marine species, blue whales are being harm by many others factors today. This include collisions of ships, chemical pollution such as oil spills, and noise pollution from vessels (Eco). The population of blue whales is known to be around “10,000 to 25,000 ” (World Wild Life).
Hackmann, Willem Dirk. “SONAR.” Encyclopedia of World War II. Vol. 2. New York: Facts on File, 2007. Modern World History Online. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. .