Dolphin Beaching Followed Sub's Exercises

[Gyre]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4844269,00.html

"KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - The Navy and marine wildlife experts are investigating whether the beaching of dozens of dolphins in the Florida Keys followed the use of sonar by a submarine on a training exercise off the coast.

More than 20 rough-toothed dolphins have died since Wednesday's beaching by about 70 of the marine mammals, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary spokeswoman Cheva Heck said Saturday.

A day before the dolphins swam ashore, the USS Philadelphia had conducted exercises with Navy SEALs off Key West, about 45 miles from Marathon, where the dolphins became stranded"

We are such a disaster on a global scale. No wonder the repubes say we hate America. There are times it's true and it's totally justified.:puke:

Gyre

[joefree1]

1. NRDC fighting Bush over use of Sonar

Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar
Following a historic victory, NRDC steps up the campaign at home and abroad to regulate active sonar systems that harm marine mammals.


Photo of beached whale

Of the 13 beaked whales that stranded in the Bahamas in March 2000 after exposure to active sonar, seven died, including this one.
Center for Whale Research
Even as evidence of its threat to marine life continues to mount, the use of deadly military sonar in the world's oceans is spreading.

An NRDC-led coalition of wildlife advocates succeeded in restricting the U.S. Navy's use of a powerful active sonar system known as SURTASS LFA in 2003. But the fight is hardly over; other nations are developing LFA-type systems of their own, and sonar testing in coastal waters -- using the same mid-frequency systems that have been implicated in numerous strandings of whales -- is actually on the rise, putting more and more marine mammals and fisheries at risk. And the Bush administration is now appealing the legal victory that compelled the Navy into compromise.
More ...
http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/nlfa.asp

[NVMojo]

2. humanity has to be a despicable state of being ...

[BrklynLiberal]

3. There are those who feel that all the other creatures on this planet are

here merely to serve man's needs. The time will come when man will disappear from the planet, and only those 'other creatures' will remain.
It is sad and pathetic and we will all pay the price for the cruelty and disgusting thoughtlessness that incidents like this show about human beings.

[RPM]

10. god put man in control of the animals

we can kill them all if we want - god said so
:eyes:

[lumpy]

21. God granted us the responsibility

to be conservators of the earth and it's creatures, according to my bible.

[RPM]

24. cool - you should give that bible to the freeper types

their bibles must have typos....

[proud patriot]

4. I'm Fucking pissed

Where are the dolphin safe Tuna Moms We need you .

[SodoffBush]

5. Every time there are beached dolphins or whales, the navy is involved

That's my guess.

[lies and propaganda]

6. this just completely sucks

these people dont give a shit about anything. A dolphin is just the same as a soldier to them, "its their fault they were in the way."

[Voltaire99]

7. "These people don't give a shit about anything."

You got that right, friend.

It falls to us to keep alive what the late Edward Said called "the community of conscience and understanding."

Here's to it--and the dream of a better future. :-)

[Toots]

17. I believe Amerika is Consumed with Killing

Eighty percent of our National Treasure goes toward killing devices. The most popular movies are of killing and mayhem.War and the warrior are glorified here. We will clear cut a section of land without one thought about the wildlife there. Killing is just routine... Should we be proud of what we have become???

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. You mean the oceans aren't big enough

that they have to do this 'testing' 45 miles off the Florida Keys? I can't even take a shit in this area without a proper marine toilet, yet these assholes can get away with this sort of crap down there?

[dbt]

9. So the Navy and marine experts are "INVESTIGATING?!?!?"

Christ on Crack, have there NOT been enough instances of whales and dolphins beaching themselves in close temporal proximity to these SONAR experiments? How long will the damned investigation take? And how many more of these noble creatures will die while Humans try to quantify the obvious?

SIDEBAR: If SONAR, ELF and Goddess-knows-what-else are affecting higher life forms like whales and dolphins, WTF must they be doing to us lower forms?

[leftchick]

11. over 35 pilot whales died in NC last month

and the Navy admitted testing sonar at the time. This has to stop. :cry:

[lonestarnot]

12. He's not satisfied with torturing people, now after the dolphins! n/t

[Slit Skirt]

13. this is old... (11/04) but validates the worldwide problem

http://www.independent-media.tv/itemprint.cfm?fmedia_id=10209&fcategory_desc=Under%20Reported


SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- Scientists and wildlife officials continued to search on Tuesday for what may have caused a series of mass strandings which left 169 whales and dolphins dead on Australian and New Zealand beaches in the past three days.
Authorities and volunteers worked through Monday night to save dozens of whales and dolphins after three separate beachings in Australia and New Zealand.

By Tuesday, 96 long-finned pilot whales and bottle-nosed dolphins had died after the first beaching on Sunday at King Island, midway between the Australian mainland and the southern island state of Tasmania.

Tasmanian wildlife officer Shane Hunniford said another 19 long-finned pilot whales had died in a separate beaching on Monday on Maria Island, 60 km (37 miles) east of the Tasmanian capital Hobart.

He said 43 whales had beached themselves on Maria Island but officials had managed to save 24 that had been found alive.
<snip>

Bob Brown, leader of Australia's Greens party, said earlier on Tuesday that ocean seismic tests for oil and gas should be stopped until the whale migration season ends.

Brown, a senator in the Australian parliament, said "sound bombing" of ocean floors to test for oil and gas had been carried out near the sites of the Tasmanian beachings recently.

He said in a statement that research data on the possible impact of such practices on marine life was inconclusive.

Across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand, a mass grave was dug on a beach at Opoutere, 100 km (62 miles) east of Auckland on the North Island, for 53 dead pilot whales. Officials said 73 whales had become stranded there on Sunday, but 20 were saved.

[jdj]

15. well, this one puts the lid on it.

generally so many different species don't get sick all at once.

It's really devastating.

[Ladyhawk]

22. Hmmm, if I recall correctly, only odontocetes (toothed whales)

beach in large numbers. It has been speculated that this is because the toothed whales are much more social than baleen whales, which is true. But it is also thought that only toothed whales use sonar to navigate.

You'd think that during the gray whale migration, there would be some mass strandings, but I don't recall ever hearing of any. Pilot whales seem to be especially suceptible. Even the largest toothed whale, the sperm whale, is not immune.

I rather doubt any official agencies are investigating this, don't you? :(

[mahina]

14. The lawsuit was lost as i recall, and not long ago.

A federal judge ruled in the military's favor on this in our area. I couldn't even read the article. They are perfect innocents trying to live in this world. This should be a crime.
Auwe!

[CoffeeCat]

16. Some excellent info on sonar's damaging effects on marine life...

"The power of some of these sonar systems, the number of decibels that they produce and the distance they can travel can undoubtedly have an effect on marine life. Cetaceans may experience gross damage to ears, damage to body tissue, masking of communication,interference with ability to acoustically interpret their environment and also interference with food finding. Long term effects caused by sonar are almost impossible to identify. Many whales that are fatally impacted can sink to the bottom of the ocean, therefore the true death toll cannot be estimated. There are widespread concerns about the danger of high intensity sonar to marine mammals, marine ecosystems and the health of our depleted oceans. Low frequency sonar can travel hundreds of miles through our oceans at considerable intensities."

http://www.marineconnection.org/campaigns/sonar_sonar.html

[gulfcoastliberal]

18. The US Navy is a source of enormous pollution of all kinds..

My friends who were in the Navy and on nuclear carriers said the amount of waste dumped into the sea is astounding. All the waste from 5000+ people constantly flushed into the water. And all the other vessels in the battle group do the same thing, even if not on the same enormous scale. Waste trails for miles behind those things. All the waste is dumped into the water. Everything.

[BigBearJohn]

19. What the fuck is this world coming to?!!@#$!@#$!@#$

[Baclava]

20. You're forgetting - the Navy loves dolphins...

PBS: The Story of Navy Dolphins

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/whales/etc/navycron.html

The Navy's Marine Mammal Program began in 1960...

Bottlenose dolphins detect and mark of underwater mines. The animal locates a mine and then deposits a weighted buoy line near the mine in order to mark it.

California sea lions attach grabber devices to underwater objects for retrieval. This system is used extensively in training exercises with divers for Explosive Ordnance Disposal units. Practice mines are placed on the sea floor; those not found by the divers during the exercise are retrieved by the sea lions.

Bottlenose dolphins are used to detect and defend against enemy swimmers. This procedure was used in both the Vietnam war and the Persian Gulf to protect Navy anchored vessels from enemy swimmers seeking to plant explosives. The dolphins would swim slowly, patroling the area with their sonar, and alert armed trainer guards if they located a swimmer. They are also trained to "tag" the enemy swimmer with a marker so that Navy personnel can apprehend him. During the Vietnam war, rumors circulated about a "swimmer nullification program" in which dolphins were also being trained to shoot at enemy swimmers with a device similar to the tagging device. The Navy denies that any such program existed or that any dolphin has ever been trained to attack a human. - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Deja Q]

23. Gotta protect the home land. Even if it kills some fish.

I wonder if these bureaucratic dipshits understand the ecosystem? Destroy enough of one part of it and the rest is going to flounder if not disintegrate.

The dolphins aren't the first species to be destroyed by us.

And karma will have its say ultimately too.