Photo credit: Maui Now
Even though the US Navy received approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service for training and testing in the Pacific Ocean, a federal judge says its illegal.
The judge ruled on March 31 that the activities would cause widespread harm to whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine mammals totaling around 9.6 million instances of harm.
The Navy’s five year plan included the use of explosives and sonar which could result in thousands of animal deaths, plus millions of temporary injuries. It would disrupt feeding, breeding and communications.
This plan was presented to a federal judge after Earthjustice – representing Conservation Council for Hawaii, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Ocean Mammal Institute – sued in December 2013 to challenge the approval. Earthjustice said the plan violated the National Environmental Policy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
“The court’s ruling recognizes that, to defend our country, the Navy doesn’t need to train in every square inch of a swath of ocean larger than all 50 United States combined,” said David Henkin, the Earthjustice attorney representing the conservation groups. “The Navy can fulfill its mission, and at the same time, avoid the most severe harm to dolphins, whales and countless other marine animals by simply limiting training and testing in a small number of biologically sensitive areas.”
“This is an important victory for our oceans,” said Marsha Green, president of Ocean Mammal Institute. “The Navy can, and must, find ways to accomplish its mission that reduce the amount of deafening noise that prevents marine mammals from communicating, navigating, feeding and finding mates.”
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