Whales and Sonar

Whales and Sonar PDF Author: Kristina Alexander
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sonar
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
This report discusses litigation regarding the use of mid-frequency active sonar training exercises and its effects on marine mammals.

Whales and Sonar

Whales and Sonar PDF Author: Kristina Alexander
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sonar
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
This report discusses litigation regarding the use of mid-frequency active sonar training exercises and its effects on marine mammals.

Whales and Sonar: Environmental Exemptions for the Navy’s Mid-Frequence Active Sonar Training

Whales and Sonar: Environmental Exemptions for the Navy’s Mid-Frequence Active Sonar Training PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437929613
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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Book Description


Whales and Sonar

Whales and Sonar PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Actions by the federal government, including the military, require the agency to consult with either the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary of the Interior to ensure that the project is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered or threatened species or result in destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat.18. [...] An exemption from the CZMA is provided within the law, giving the President the right to excuse a federal agency from complying with a state CMP if the action is in the paramount interest of the United States. [...] No such exemption shall be granted on the basis of a lack of appropriations unless the President has specifically requested such appropriations as part of the budgetary process, and the Congress has failed to make available the requested appropriations.24 After a court has ruled an action conflicts with a state's CMP, the President may find that the action is of paramount interest to the nation, a [...] The defendants include the Secretary of the Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the Department of Commerce. [...] The case was remanded to the district court, with instructions from the Ninth Circuit that the injunction should be fitted to the circumstances.

Environmental Exemptions for the Navy's Mid-frequency Active Sonar Training Program

Environmental Exemptions for the Navy's Mid-frequency Active Sonar Training Program PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Endangered species
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar emits pulses of sound from an underwater transmitter to help determine the size, distance, and speed of objects. The sound waves bounce off objects and reflect back to underwater acoustic receivers as an echo. MFA sonar has been used since World War II, and the Navy finds it the only reliable way to track submarines, especially more recently designed submarines that operate more quietly, making them more difficult to detect. Scientists have found that sonar may harm certain marine mammals under certain conditions, especially beaked whales. Depending on the exposure, the sonar may damage the ears of the mammals, causing hemorrhaging and/or disorientation. The Navy agrees that the sonar may harm some marine mammals, but says it has taken protective measures so that animals are not harmed. MFA testing must comply with a variety of environmental laws, unless an exemption is granted by the appropriate authority. Marine mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and some under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The training program must also comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and in some cases the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). Each of these laws has provisions where a federal action may be exempted from compliance. The Navy has invoked all of the exemptions to continue its sonar training exercises.

Environmental Exemptions for the Navy's Mid-Frequency Active Sonar Training Program

Environmental Exemptions for the Navy's Mid-Frequency Active Sonar Training Program PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Supreme Court did not consider the merits of the action-meaning it did not evaluate whether the Navy had met all of its environmental obligations in preparing for the training-but it held that the Navy could not be enjoined from training in this case based on the evidence of merely the possibility of harming marine life.1 This report will discuss that litigation. [...] The law provides that species may be killed or harmed without penalty if the injury is incidental to a lawful purpose and certain procedures are followed.17 Actions by the federal government, including the military, require the agency to consult with either the Secretary of Commerce or the Secretary of the Interior to ensure that the project is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a [...] An exemption from the CZMA is provided within the law, giving the President the right to excuse a federal agency from complying with a state CMP if the action is in the paramount interest of the United States. [...] Legal challenges to the use of low-frequency sonar were brought before the District Court for the Northern District of California, but were settled by the Navy in 2008.26 The challenges to the use of MFA sonar began in the District Court for the Central District of California. [...] The defendants include the Secretary of the Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the Department of Commerce.

Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training

Atlantic Fleet Active Sonar Training PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 908

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Book Description


Active Military Sonar and Marine Mammals

Active Military Sonar and Marine Mammals PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The deployment of active sonar by the U.S. Navy and its potential impacts on marine mammals has been an ongoing issue of intense debate; regulatory, legislative, and judicial activity; and international concern. Some peacetime use of military sonar has been regulated under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and other statutes due to concerns that active military sonars are operated at frequencies used by some cetaceans (i.e., whales, porpoises, and dolphins), and their highintensity sound pulses may travel long distances in the ocean. There is also concern that sonar transmissions of sufficiently high intensity might physically damage the hearing in cetaceans or cause them to modify their behavior in ways that are detrimental. Although mid-frequency sonar has been implicated in several beaked whale strandings, there is scientific uncertainty surrounding the totality of the effects active sonar transmissions may have on marine mammals. This report summarizes legal and political events related to active sonar and marine mammals since 1994. Prior to the late 1990s, concerns focused primarily on the use of underwater sound as a research tool. While strandings and mortality of marine mammals, primarily beaked whales, have been observed in concurrence with mid-frequency sonar operation, additional controversy has focused on the development of low-frequency active (LFA) sonar. Environmental interests are concerned with LFA sonar because low-frequency sound travels farther than midfrequency sound and is closer in frequency to those known to be used by baleen whales. Additional questions involve how to balance obligations of the military to comply with MMPA provisions (as well as provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act) with national security concerns. In 2003, Congress passed P.L. 108-136, wherein §319 amended the MMPA to authorize exemptions from restrictions on harassing and otherwise taking marine mammals for "national defense." Generally speaking, concern about the environmental effects of ocean noise is now principally focused on three activities -- military sonar exercises, oil and gas exploration, and commercial shipping. This report summarizes some of the more significant recent events pertaining to active military sonar, in particular.

Active Military Sonar and Marine Mammals

Active Military Sonar and Marine Mammals PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Marine biology
Languages : en
Pages : 14

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Book Description
The deployment of active sonar by the U.S. Navy and its potential impacts on marine mammals has been an ongoing issue of intense debate; regulatory, legislative, and judicial activity; and international concern. Some peacetime use of military sonar has been regulated under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and other statutes due to concerns that active military sonars are operated at frequencies used by some cetaceans (i.e., whales, porpoises, and dolphins), and their high-intensity sound pulses may travel long distances in the ocean. There is also concern that sonar transmissions of sufficiently high intensity might physically damage the hearing in cetaceans or cause them to modify their behavior in ways that are detrimental. Although mid-frequency sonar has been implicated in several beaked whale strandings, there is scientific uncertainty surrounding the totality of the effects active sonar transmissions may have on marine mammals. This report summarizes legal and political events related to active sonar and marine mammals since 1994. Prior to the late 1990s, concerns focused primarily on the use of underwater sound as a research tool. While strandings and mortality of marine mammals, primarily beaked whales, have been observed in concurrence with mid-frequency sonar operation, additional controversy has focused on the development of low-frequency active (LFA) sonar. Environmental interests are concerned with LFA sonar because low-frequency sound travels farther than mid-frequency sound and is closer in frequency to those known to be used by baleen whales. Additional questions involve how to balance obligations of the military to comply with MMPA provisions (as well as provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act) with national security concerns. Generally speaking, concern about the environmental effects of ocean noise is now principally focused on three activities -- military sonar exercises, oil and gas exploration, and commercial shipping. This report summarizes some of the more significant recent events pertaining to active military sonar, in particular.

U.S. Navy Sonar and Marine Mammals

U.S. Navy Sonar and Marine Mammals PDF Author: Meegan Brianna Corcoran
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Cetacea
Languages : en
Pages : 55

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Book Description
National security and environmental health have been at odds in America for decades. An example is the competing interests regarding Navy active sonar and marine mammal impacts. Navy sonar is essential for submarine detection, identification, and tracking. However, active sonar has been correlated to behavioral changes, deafness, hemorrhaging, stranding and death of marine mammals throughout the oceans. The U.S. Navy is currently proposing to increase active sonar testing and training off the Pacific Northwest coast in a range complex known as the Northwest Testing and Training (NWTT) Study Area. The Navy presently employs several marine mammal mitigation measure in order to limit negative impacts. However, additional mitigation measures exist that the Navy may utilize to further decrease harm. I have developed and evaluated five additional measures which support national security and environmental health. It is imperative the Navy assesses alternative mitigation measures that increase environmental protection while maintaining readiness standards.

Naval Law Review

Naval Law Review PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Courts-martial and courts of inquiry
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description