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| For
more details click here |
| Continue
with introduction |
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| Environmental
Concerns |
The environmental
concern is that LF sound will disturb and/or injure marine life.
What is disturbance?
- Technically,
disturbance ranges from any noticeable behavioral change
to severe avoidance.
What is injury?
- Injury includes
tissue damage, permanent threshold shift in hearing, and
in some cases, resonance on internal organs. Note:
Resonance does not necessarily equal damage and damage is
not always linked to resonance.
The SURTASS
LFA Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) effort started in
1996:
- Misunderstandings
and difficulties of communication between scientists and
the public led to opposition by environmental organizations
and concerned individuals.
- For example,
the Navy has applied for a permit for the incidental taking
of marine mammals associated with the use of SURTASS LFA.
- Many concerned
citizens believe “take” means to "kill” and that the
Navy is requesting authorization to harm thousands of marine
mammals. This is wrong.
- “Take"
means only that the animal will be in a region where it
may hear the sound and may possibly respond in some way.
What did the
Navy do to analyze disturbance?
Click HERE to see.
What did the Navy do to prevent injury?
Click HERE to see. |
| For
more details on the potential for resonance to cause
damage in marine mammals,
click HERE. |
|
| Click
HERE for NRDC's Report Sounding the Depths:
Supertankers, Sonar, and the Rise of Undersea
Noise |
|
| For
more details on the Navy's application for a permit
for the incidental taking of marine mammals associated
with the use of SURTASS LFA,
click HERE. |
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| Continue
with introduction |
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Shore Observers |
Results |
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Source in
migration corridor
- whales changed course to avoid it
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Source moved farther
offshore with higher noise level to achieve same received level
in migration corridor
-whales did not change course |
| Phase
III - humpback whales breeding |
| Scientists
on Cory |
Results |
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| Based
on the findings from the Scientific Research Program, SURTASS
LFA can be operated safely and effectively, under the proposed
geographic and monitoring mitigation measures. |
| Continue
with introduction |
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Based
on the best available scientific information, the risk of injury
(including that from resonance effects) from SURTASS LFA is
confined to a relatively small area very close to the vessel.
In order to mitigate the possibility of injury, the Navy designed,
developed, tested, and validated a High Frequency Marine Mammal
Monitoring (HF/M3) sonar.
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The HF/M3 sonar
will provide very high probability that no marine mammal will
be exposed to high sound levels in the LFA mitigation zone (at
or above 180 dB.)
The HF/M3 sonar has been tested and its performance validated
with controlled bottlenose dolphins in August 2000 off the southern
California coast.
Click HERE for more details.
The Navy continues to pursue marine mammal research: $7M in
2001 and approximately $12M in 2002.
Click HERE for more details. |
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