US sued over Navy sonar tests in whale waters

Center for Whale Research via AP

A female orca, or killer whale, travels with her offspring in waters around the San Juan Islands in Washington State.

Environmental groups sued the Obama administration on Thursday for granting the Navy permits to test underwater sonar along the West Coast -- and potentially harass up to 650,000 porpoises, seals, dolphins and whales over a five-year period.

The alliance said it wasn't seeking to stop the testing but to scale it back, especially at certain times and in waters important for feeding and giving birth.

Several studies have found that marine mammals can hear low-frequency sonar, which is magnified under water, and periodically dolphins and even whales have been found with perforated ear drums.


The National Marine Fisheries Service "fell down on the job and failed to require the Navy to take reasonable and effective actions to protect" marine mammals, Steve Mashuda, an attorney for the law firm Earthjustice, said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claims that the Navy's sonar use might be strong enough to kill the animals outright. But even if it doesn't, it claims, the repeated use of sonar in certain critical habitats is unwarranted.

In 2010, the fisheries service approved the Navy's five-year plan for operations in the Northwest Training Range Complex, an area roughly the size of California that stretches from Washington state to Northern California.

Under the five-year plan, the service said it was acceptable for the Navy to incur up to 650,000 cases of harassment of marine mammals.

Regulators determined that while sonar use has been associated with the deaths of whales around the world, including the beaching of 37 whales on North Carolina's Outer Banks in 2005, there was little chance of that happening on the West Coast. The short duration of the sonar use, typically 90 minutes at a time by a single surface vessel, and reduced intensity would help prevent whale deaths, they said.

Regulators are requiring the Navy to shut down sonar operations if whales, sea lions, dolphins or other marine mammals were spotted nearby by ships in the water.

But the plaintiffs argue that visual mitigation is ineffective.

"Visual detection can miss anywhere from 25–95 percent of the marine mammals in an area,” stated Heather Trim, policy director for People For Puget Sound. "It’s particularly unreliable in rough seas or in bad weather. We learn more every day about where whales and other mammals are most likely to be found — we want NMFS to put that knowledge to use to ensure that the Navy’s training avoids those areas when marine mammals are most likely there."

A spokeswoman for the Navy declined to comment, saying she had not seen the lawsuit, and the fisheries service did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

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Comment author avatarCrash into your faceExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

Next we'll hear of a lawsuit about someone stealing the air someone else was breathing...

  • 10 votes
#1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:05 PM EST

The whales got lawyers................man those guys will chase anything.

  • 13 votes
#1.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:27 PM EST

Environmental Lawyers: You can't use Sonar there-- it will harm the fish and aquatic mammals.

US Navy: Okay.

China: Let's put our submarines there...

  • 19 votes
#1.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:17 PM EST

The Administration allows this but they block the Keystone pipeline which would have provided 20,000 US jobs because of environmental issues. So now Canada will build a pipeline to the coast and China will pick up the oil. But we didn't hear about that in the media.

  • 16 votes
#1.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:56 PM EST

CRASH, I am suing you for stealing my air. you have polluted it too much, I cant' breath.

  • 2 votes
#1.4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:03 PM EST

Hey Crash;

It's already been done. That's why you can't walk down a public sidewalk and smoke a cigarette in California anymore. But, you can sit around in a cloud of bong smoke if you have a medical marijuana card,,,,,,,, Go figure. To quote Yakov Smirnoff,,,,A-mary-ka,,, What a country.

  • 4 votes
#1.5 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:19 PM EST

Yes Carletta, because if the pipeline breaks, a very important aquifer, that provides water to a HUGE part of the mid-west, MILLIONS of people will be at risk. I live in Colorado, and quite frankly, would be extremely peeved if my drinking water was full of oil.

  • 14 votes
#1.6 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:56 PM EST

Keystone pipeline isn't dead and it's was more like 6000 jobs. It's being moved from the current route which goes directly through a watershed for but rather than allowing the new route to be figured out Republicans forced Obama's hand and he had to say no (unless you like the taste petroleum in the morning). It will be back, I'm sure.

  • 9 votes
#1.7 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:28 PM EST

Imagine a world without animals. Horrible.

  • 6 votes
#1.8 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:36 PM EST

The Administration allows this but they block the Keystone pipeline

Nothing to do with this Administation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_v._Natural_Resources_Defense_Council

Supreme Court ruled on Nov. 12th, 2008. Obama assumed office Jan. 20th, 2009.

  • 6 votes
#1.9 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:47 PM EST

Crash in your Face,

Awesome analogy Dude. What???? Not one word that you wrote had any relevance to the fact that the Navy using sonar in this area is potentially harmful or perhaps fatal to marine life. You have without argument proven that humans are the most advanced species on this planet. I only wish your hearing was advanced as whales and dolphins, that you liked to snorkel off the coast of northern California and that USN ships disregarded your existence. Like I will do. Good name, you first.

  • 10 votes
#1.10 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:06 PM EST

Whales and other marine animals are too important to sacrafice for our over funded military. Stop the sonar tests now.

  • 9 votes
#1.11 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:27 PM EST

We don't have to stop the tests, just reschedule them for a less sensitive time of year and in areas without large cetatean populations. Talk about mountains out of molehills.

  • 11 votes
#1.12 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:15 PM EST

The Ogallala aquifer, yes we don't want pollutants in there. That would be an act of..... terrorism.

As far as our mammal friends from the ocean, yes we want to find a happy medium between their normal living and our military needs. I trust we can do that, our Navy friends love these oceans and what's in it.

  • 4 votes
#1.13 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:17 PM EST

OK, lets stop the sonar. Lets just go back to setting off underwater nukes instead. Blow up enough of an area and you sink the sub.

    #1.15 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:29 AM EST

    What about the Thousands of miles of EXISTING Pipeline in the Ogallala Aquifer now?? Do you want them shut down too???

    • 2 votes
    #1.16 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:54 AM EST

    When was the last catastrophic spill from the existing pipeline that already exists? Please...the Obama administration has dropped the ball again and despite the positive aspects of the pipeline project he was a deer in the headlights. Once again failed to do the right thing.

    • 1 vote
    #1.17 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 9:26 AM EST

    Nicodemus1946

    If your not allowed to smoke on a pubic sidewalk then the people of L.A. ,San Diego, and San Francisco, should sue over the smog that they have to breath in every day.

    And how difficult is it to go to a place where they will not interfere with the marine life? I mean the ocean is a big place and by now one would think that they would know where the marine animals bread and feed and migrate through?

      #1.18 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:24 PM EST

      Happy42xxx

      http://www.adn.com/2010/05/28/1298543/alyeska-awaits-federal-ok-to-restart.html

      Published: May 29th, 2010 11:36 PM
      Last Modified: May 29th, 2010 11:37 PM
      This week's oil spill from the trans-Alaska pipeline totaled about 5,000 barrels, making it the third-largest spill ever from the 800-mile pipeline. It may not be a catastrophic spill but still how much is needed to be just that ? here are two more.

      • In 1978, sabotage at Steele Creek caused about 670,000 gallons - 16,000 barrels - to leak.
      • In 2001, a Livengood man shot the pipeline with a high-caliber rifle, causing 258,000 gallons - 6,143 barrels - to spew from the line before Alyeska could secure a clamp over the hole.

      Sorry to stray off topic, just answering his question people

      • 3 votes
      #1.19 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 9:57 PM EST
      Reply

      The whales have been suffering too long. It is something that could be controlled by the Navy if they utilized the services of competent marine biologists. Worse than the continued suffering imposed on innocent sea creatures is the coverup and denial of something that has been known for decades. It is all unnecessary!

      • 27 votes
      #2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:10 PM EST
      Comment author avatarDoo-Doo PaperExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

      did the f#&%ing whale tell you it was suffering?

      • 8 votes
      #2.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:57 PM EST

      Intellectually dishonest person !

      • 3 votes
      #2.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:58 PM EST

      Freedom1st;

      If it's so harmful to them, why do the follow the sub's around then? I have a cousin in the sub service of the Navy. He's told me many species of whales follow along side the sub singing. If it is that bad for them, and they are as intelligent as science contends, why would they not stay away from the submarines?

      • 8 votes
      #2.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:23 PM EST

      Nicodemus; the same can be said for humans. We all know fat and grease is bad for us and yet we still go to mcdonald's, some of us on a daily basis. If we know it's bad for us, why should we not stay away from the fast food places.

      • 7 votes
      #2.4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:59 PM EST

      Try driving a sub without sonar! Do you care about the lives of the sailors, or the security of the nation? banning sonar use is like unlocking the security gate. Radar bothers the bats lets grt rid of that too, and what about birds that navigate at night lets ban lights while we are at it, better yet I don't like lawyers lets put a ban on them, if you didn't have them you would not need them.

      • 3 votes
      #2.5 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:09 PM EST

      I spent 5 years as a Sonar Tech on the USS Ingersoll. Only thing that happened when we lit off our active sonar was alot of dolphins would show up to play, and maybe the occasional whale. We used to do maintenance while tied up to the pier in Pearl Harbor at full power and not once did I ever see or hear of a dead or stunned fish, and this is in 40 feet of water.

      It's a bullsh-t lawsuit they already lost once, in

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_v._Natural_Resources_Defense_Council .

      Anytime you see a lawsuit filed in San Francisco, you should automatically be skeptical.

      • 11 votes
      #2.6 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:53 PM EST

      Hey D Buck

      Try living on this planet with only your fellow dumba$$ humans. I hear they taste like chicken, but they only last for so long so ya gotta hurry before they are all gone! I hope you are thin and fast because you are obviously not going to survive on intelligence alone.

      • 5 votes
      #2.7 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:53 PM EST

      Ecile;

      Generalizations, not everyone eats at McDonald's. Not daily, weekly, monthly. I honestly can't remember the last time I ate anything from there. Since whales generate their own form of sonar, Why does it not harm them? They use many of the same frequencies. I've read the direct sonar can interfere with whales sonar location, but the Navy hasn't used direct sonar in decades. It's been passive since the late 60's. It's sound, not a laser, not radioactive, sound.

      Women are exposed to the same sort of sonar during sonograms during pregnancy. Perhaps, that needs to be banned, yes? Then babies condition in the womb would return to the good old days of largely unknown until birth. But then people wouldn't know what sex to buy clothes for, birth defeats might go undetected. Modern technology isn't going away. You can scream all you like. Think what you would do without if all "alleged" harmful technology was banned. No cell phone, No wireless internet, wireless phones, no modern cars,planes, or trains. Have a good time caring for that horse.

      • 2 votes
      #2.8 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:58 PM EST

      We don't need sonar to find submarines and a well built submarine will not reflect the sonar anyway. We have other technology deployed that is much more reliable. There is just no need to screw up the environment any more than we have already. It is us that will go extinct if we don't quit the stupidity. Mother Nature will do just fine without us. In the blink of a geological eye, the earth will no longer bear any trace we were even here.

      • 11 votes
      #2.9 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:18 PM EST
      Comment author avatarNicodemus1946Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

      softdude;

      Submarines use sonar even today to navigate under water. No it is not the "pinging" direct sonar of yesteryear, but it is sonar none the less. Now,, let's look back say 400 million years. There have been no less than 10 mass extinctions on planet earth in that time. NONE of which humans in any way caused or could have prevented.

      Mathematically speaking, it is a virtual certainty human beings will join the other 86% of all life on this rock that has died out. Are we rushing head long to our imminent doom, no, we are not. Contrary to what the "sky is falling" crowd would have us believe. Does human activity effect the planet, of course. To the degree some of a more extreme point of view would profess, I'm not convinced. Deforestation is the largest contributor to CO2 build up as trees and other flora remove it. So be of good cheer. When the end of human kind arrives, we will join a long and illustrious list of late, great creatures to have dominated the planet. But I seriously doubt it will be within the next millennium. Unless the Maya and others are right.

      • 7 votes
      #2.10 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 9:33 PM EST

      Why was this post collapsed? No name calling, just facts... Someone get up on the wrong side of the computer this morning?

      • 5 votes
      #2.11 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 11:22 AM EST

      Doo-Doo Paper

      Several studies have found that marine mammals can hear low-frequency sonar, which is magnified under water, and periodically dolphins and even whales have been found with perforated ear drums.

      Do you think that you would be suffering if you had perforated eardrums? I would say that you would be suffering wouldn't you? Animals aren't so different

      • 3 votes
      #2.12 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:47 PM EST

      Doo-Doo. Yikes. Did you know that dophins sing whale songs in their sleep? Animals are not stupid. It's us. Ignorant and brainwashed. Turn off your TVs for a few years to clear the propaganda out of your brains . Get a 3 year subscription to National Geographic, Audubon and other materials, get outdoors to open your eyes to the natural world. A night under the stars is priceless.

      • 4 votes
      #2.13 - Sat Jan 28, 2012 5:24 AM EST
      Reply

      You people won't be happy until there is nothing left but us repugnant humans!.

      • 17 votes
      Reply#3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:14 PM EST

      Better than those who want the opposite.

      • 5 votes
      #3.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:02 PM EST

      Having been a sonar tech in the navy for over 20 yrs, I never once saw any changes in the activities of whales or porposes that were near us when we had our sonar active. As a matter of fact the porposes would ride out bow waves and race along in front of us normally. Jumping and playing like normal. And as for you hearing it in your house? I find that rather hard to believe. Unless of course you are living on the water and or have water pipes running into the ocean that might transfer the sound energy towards your house.

      • 6 votes
      #3.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:02 PM EST

      @ ssdamore752 What exactly is the frequency of sonar these days. It used to be around 120hz if I remember correctly.

      • 1 vote
      #3.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:13 PM EST
      Reply

      I live in Santa Cruz, and when they started their experiments I felt bombarded by a low frequency hum that seemed like it never stopped . At first I went around checking all my hose bibs in the yard and field, fearing I'd left water running. I turned off the current to the house to see if it wasn't simply the hot tub or frig. Finally I realized it was some sort of pervasive rumble, below many people's perception but very audible to me. I began to hate it. It made me want to move. And I'm not in the water!

      • 11 votes
      Reply#4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:16 PM EST
      • 2 votes
      #4.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:21 PM EST
      Comment author avatarCommon Man-3493893Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

      molly, next time take off that tin foil hat.

      • 7 votes
      #4.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:50 PM EST

      LMAO! These tests took place off shore in deep waters, hundreds of mile out to sea, and you were on land at the time. I bet you have alot of sympathy pains when around pregnant people? Maybe you were feeling the RF from the antenna array in Alaska. they say that is emmitting RF in the range humans function off of.

      • 3 votes
      #4.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:19 PM EST

      I dunno boyz....... I can hear very low frequency (20Hz) many people cannot. I hear rumble from jets, I hear the ground rattle from an overloaded semi crossing the expressway bridge 1/2 mile away. I hear thunder before anyone else does. So Molly is probably telling you the truth. What she is describing sounds to be correct to me.

      • 11 votes
      #4.4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:30 PM EST

      you are free to move molly and so are the whales, but knowing Obama he will probably shut down the Navy, hows your Chinese? you know Iran has submarines do you think they can peddle this far? I don't know how many Iranians they get to the nautical mile, my guess is whales dislike explosions even more than sonar. sometimes you have to take the bad with the good. I wonder who is paying the lawyers, and the full content of the lawsuit.

      • 2 votes
      #4.5 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:28 PM EST

      Since you live in Southern California, could it have been an earthquake? Most earthquakes go unnoticed by most people and can be detected only through seismographs, but a few with overly sensitive hearing can percieve the quakes as a low rumble akin to a hum.

      • 1 vote
      #4.6 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:35 PM EST

      Back in the 80's when i was on subs the pings were high freq. Under the waterline i could hear it loud and clear, topside i could not hear it at all.

      • 1 vote
      #4.7 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:04 AM EST

      Low frequency waves travel much further than high frequency waves which is why elephants and many other animals use them to communicate over distances ranging from hundreds to thousands of miles. Those animals are able to audibly hear those sounds at those distances without any amplification equipment. So, who's stupid enough to believe that the US Navy isn't capable of creating low frequency sound waves at much higher decibels than animals can??

      • 2 votes
      #4.8 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:04 AM EST
      Reply

      um, would they rather have sonar off the coast or Russian and Chineese subs ready to nuke us?

      • 6 votes
      Reply#5 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:21 PM EST

      Why bother to nuke when you can do more damage with economic or financial warfare?

      Nukes are not a deterrant it is just a bad joke that no one - except the ignorant- feel like laughing about anymore. They are cheaper to create than to store or maintain, and if there is a leak... it is toxic to all life.

      • 4 votes
      #5.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:30 PM EST

      If you air-burst a nuke the E.M.P. will take out most of the electronics in very large area. No phones, computers, or electricity as it will take out a huge chunk of power grid. The only vehicles running will be the ones without computers. No computers means no stock market for along time, no bank records, no cash. By the time everything is sorted out, centeral America would look first world.

      • 1 vote
      #5.2 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:15 AM EST

      um, would they rather have sonar off the coast or Russian and Chineese subs ready to nuke us?

      Um, do you really not know what the word "test" means? This is not the normal sonar that's in operation right now, this is a test and only a test and is not being used to detect anything right now.

      • 2 votes
      #5.3 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 3:06 AM EST
      Reply
      Comment author avatarDav1bgExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

      Next they will sue airlines for bugging Sasquatches in the north American forests.

      • 6 votes
      Reply#6 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:44 PM EST

      i hope they will open up hunting season for shootin Sasquatches ! the next best thing then shooting people legally !

      • 1 vote
      #6.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:36 PM EST
      Reply

      Ridiculous thought that Russia or China would nuke us. Just ridiculous. They both want to trade with us to get our money. I grew up in the heart of the cold war, and there is no chance either of those countries want to end life on Earth, which would happen since we still have enough warheads to blow the entire planet up 50 times over (or more!) The military should LEAVE THE OCEANS ALONE!

      Besides, we are not even the smartest creatures on this planet. Whale brains are so much more complex than ours and studies prove they are far more intelligent than humans with highly advanced social skills. It would be as though a group of parasitic wild boars began to bombard the entire planet with sound waves that drove all of humanity mad. We have no business slaughtering or torturing creatures that are our equals or superiors when it comes to adaptive intelligence, communication complexity, and other measures of mental "superiority." We are so inferior to the whales that it makes us look worse than stupid apes, since the apes wouldn't do what we're doing.

      • 16 votes
      #7 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:46 PM EST

      Certainly, they are more intelligent then some of the posters here.

      • 17 votes
      #7.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:56 PM EST
      Comment author avatarTheBMOC-3996429Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

      Although I would agree that whales are smarter than other animals, they are stupid compared to humans. No animal even comes close to a human intelligence.

      Written language? Art? Invention? Nope. Just swimming. LOTS of swimming. Idiots.

      • 4 votes
      #7.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:14 PM EST

      Mr. BMOC - if no animal on earth matches us in intelligence then why do we continue to kill, maim, torture one another? Doesn't seem really intelligent does it?

      • 11 votes
      #7.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:29 PM EST

      When you put it that way we do seem pretty dumb...

      • 6 votes
      #7.4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:35 PM EST

      laughingcat, if they are so smart how many diseases have cured , how many buildings have they designed, what other planets have they visited and did they take you with them?

      • 4 votes
      #7.5 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:54 PM EST

      If whales are so much smarter than us, then perhaps these environmentalists should kindly shut up? Since the whales are so much smarter than us, clearly they could file their own lawsuit if the sonar was bothering them. ;)

      • 8 votes
      #7.6 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:19 PM EST

      Russellm, you are the genius of logic, my hat off to you.

      • 2 votes
      #7.7 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:22 PM EST

      they may be smart ,but not too SMART , they beach themselves out of the water and die !suicidal creatures!

      • 3 votes
      #7.8 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:27 PM EST

      Common man, why are those standards of intelligence? We have both created and cured many diseases. Does that make us smart or stupid? We do throw a lot of "money" at cures that don't cure, and often are worse than the disease. Whales don't kill needlessly, they don't humiliate others of their species, and they have phenomenal communication skills, with unique "songs" in each section of the world's oceans to mark where they're from and where they're going. They don't need buildings, and they don't need to visit other planets to exploit their resources or make chest pounding noises about being number one. They do know more about the seas of our planet (70+% of the Earth's surface) than all our research since the beginning of time. And no whale needed to drop a bomb to prove their superiority. No whale starves or kills the young of another for ideology. Whales certainly don't need a "god" to know they are blessed with ten thousand skills and a life filled with play, song, and relative non-violence, compared with us "naked apes."

      Russellm - Whales don't need to file lawsuits. Only stupid humans need "the law" to make them do what's right.

      • 9 votes
      #7.9 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:30 PM EST
      Comment author avatarCommon Man-3493893Expand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

      OMG, excuses, excuses, do libs ever run out of excuses. Whales are dumb animals, get over it.

      • 5 votes
      #7.10 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:46 PM EST

      I would put any whale's brain function against yours in terms of reasoning, awareness, skill, speed, and autonomy. You use "lib" which I'm not. I'm a conservative scientist who has studied interspecies communication for decades. Please do not continue to embarrass yourself with your provincial and limited views about something you know nothing about. And while whales don't need "to get over themselves" it seems that humans often do. Too bad you're cursed with the human disease of thinking they're more intelligent than other creatures. You obviously know nothing about adaptive intelligence.

      • 8 votes
      #7.11 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:53 PM EST

      Ever seen a killer whale prey on the smart whales? I have, not real intelligent to let another whale eat your passive fun loving arse. "One ping and one ping only Visilly".

        #7.12 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:10 PM EST

        Yea they taste good too!

        • 1 vote
        #7.13 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:40 PM EST

        laughingcat

        Spoken like a true Neanderthal scientist.

          #7.14 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:59 AM EST

          Whales are much to intelligent to ever hire a lawyer. They laugh as lower forms of life like environmentalists cavort with the bottom feeders.

          • 1 vote
          #7.15 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:34 PM EST

          I wasn't aware whales had the ability to make tools, or the intelligence to do math or reading. Conservative scientist? I would like to see your credentials, and the study you claim proved they are smarter than humans.

          We have been to our moon, we have launched probes in to deep space. We observe the gamma rays emitted by distant and long dead stars. We have split atoms, harnessed the power of electricity, cured once incurable diseases, created super computers, and we have the brains to make more and learn more. We have the intelligence to ponder God and creation, to look in to space and stare in awe of the celestial objects that dot the universe like drops on a canvas that has no known end.

            #7.16 - Sat Jan 28, 2012 4:55 PM EST
            Reply

            Obama sued by bunny-huggers of all people. I... love it.

            • 9 votes
            Reply#8 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:53 PM EST

            When the animals are gone humans won't be far behind. I am amazed at the stupidity of the so called elite. Their drive for total control will lead to the control of a dying, soon to be dead planet. I hope their is a HELL so they can burn there for all eternity.

            • 7 votes
            Reply#9 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:56 PM EST

            Yeah! Finally someone standing up against our military. The military has ruined our economy, and environment. CUT their spending, stop their using taxpayer money to benefit a few selected corportations and corrupt "businessmen". The test site is a relatively pristine environment and the military has no regard to human or animal life... just the continuation of stealing from the working taxpayer to give more to the greedy "animals". Get our troops home, close all military bases around the globe, stop sending our money! Want to talk about the balance budget.. start and end with the military; a complete waste and agent of corruption. The Iraq and Iranian wars have produced nothing more than increased hoslitilty towards the US (rightfully so), and profits for a select few.

            • 4 votes
            Reply#10 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:03 PM EST

            @ "don't people read anymore".... BT Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform BT AR

            • 5 votes
            #10.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:27 PM EST

            If you read anything at all, you would understand why we need a military. But, apparently you don't read.

            • 5 votes
            #10.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:59 PM EST

            Whoa now, you seem like a very ignorant person haha, just close up all the military bases? hmm maybe in a perfect world but if we close ours, then we get taken over by some 3rd world country. You live in the country you do because of our military presence. amerca has problems but, look at the rest of the world? plus you sound like a terrorist with you (rightfully so) comment. douche bag, go paint a rainbow

            PS i agree with Jim

            • 6 votes
            #10.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:00 PM EST

            Sure. Eliminate our military forces. See how long our "free" country remains that way. I can promise you that China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and many other nations would jump at the chance to take control within our borders! Our military exists out of necessity, not a desire to simply flex a proverbial muscle to the world as a display of our overall greatness. You should be careful in making remarks to that effect and be glad that our military does exist, protecting the liberties you obviously take for granted. Also understand that our military force is made up entirely of volunteers willing to make the ultimate sacrifice unselfishly in order that you and I may remain free and safe from the world's evil. Nobody forces our Soldiers, Seamen, Airmen or Marines to serve, unlike many other nations that require their men to serve or deny them liberties or even life. It is unfortunate that wildlife become casualties in the course of human preservation, but is nonetheless a necessity as men will never cease to seek a total control over humanity. It is a shame that our country will remain impaired from future growth or economic freedoms because of the restraints put on us by the many "protection" groups that ultimately govern only us, while ignoring the fact that many other countries are doing the same things unrestrained. American oil companies can no longer drill in the Gulf or maintain our own pipelines, but many other countries continue to do so because they do not have the same regulations. Do you think China will care if one of their rigs in the Gulf of Mexico fail similarly to BP's? Of course they won't, but they will continue to drill oil we could be drilling to lessen our dependence on theirs. Does that make any real sense? Why do people complain about information gathering techniques used by our forces, but discount the tales of our own POW's who managed to survive much worse situations played out in other countries? Why are we the only country in the world that seems to be required to follow certain regulations, imposed by activist groups, when the entire rest of the modern world is free to do as they please?

            • 1 vote
            #10.4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:31 PM EST

            How many of you tree-huggers want to pray to Allah 9 times a day? And if you didnt, you WOULD be beaten into submission, or killed to be made an example of. This is just the Islamic views on life. Now look at the Chinese up until their technological improvements of recent. The Russians and how they have opperated. There are MANY countries thet would give out alot to control the country we ALL live in. Do you think the give squat about animal rights? I'd challenge anyone of you tree-huggers to go to their country and protest. See how long you go before being beaten and/or killed. Try playing the "AMERICAN" card and see what happens to you. You harp about the money this country spends and yet there are frivious law suites brought up that will not get far, other than to burn money that would go to help people in need. Tree-huggers, until you can change the 3rd-world countries, the most blatant polluters, then what you are doing is for not.

              #10.5 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:39 PM EST

              DPRA, if we had no military Iranians and others would come around this land and exterminate us like we're grasshoppers( including your family), then they'd make a deal with Japan allowing them to exterminate all the whales they want, then all the Rhinos of Africa along with the elephants and on and on... I know it's hard to believe with all these wars, but America is still a bastion of Freedom for humans and animals, saving the environment overall and that's why I love this country. And America does it for its land and all over the world, I don't see any other 300 million people country do that for any other planet. It's far from perfect and with lots of human errors I know, but still. Ever heard of Hitler as preview of how things could go?

                #10.6 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:05 AM EST

                If the United States would mind our own business and take care of our own the so called "terrorist threat " would cease to exist. The only terrorist that exists is our own government. Wake up America its not other countries that are causing any problems. Mankind has become possessed by greed, killing, and control . Love and compassion are nearly non-existent. Where is our simple common sense? Yes the whales are far more intelligent than man. Its so sad that they must suffer man's stupidty.

                  #10.7 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 7:41 PM EST
                  Reply

                  What, again?

                  • 1 vote
                  Reply#11 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:35 PM EST

                  Wow people with two much time on their hands there must be someone clubbing baby seals somewhere that these folks can go after because their not going to have much luck with the Navy.

                  • 4 votes
                  Reply#12 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:46 PM EST

                  I would like to see those eco-terrorists "Sea Shepherd" go and try to stop the U.S. Navy from activities that harm the whales like they do the Japanese. It is funny how they only pick on countries that they know will not treat them like the terrorists they are and blow their ass out of the water. Or put them in Gitmo, would love to see their leader Paul Watson mistreated in a government black site.

                  • 3 votes
                  Reply#13 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:48 PM EST

                  We have no right to harm the creatures of this world--intentionally or not. What is the sonar testing used for?

                  • 3 votes
                  Reply#14 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:49 PM EST

                  They are trying to determine if there are any libs with brains.

                  • 7 votes
                  #14.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:51 PM EST

                  Testing sonar!

                  • 2 votes
                  #14.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:04 PM EST

                  Mike, so far the quest to find a lib with a brain has proved negative.

                  • 3 votes
                  #14.3 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:48 PM EST

                  I don't know, Common Man. Judging by the poor-excuses-for-a-presidential-candidate the GOP want to fool us into voting for, the Right doesn't have much in the way of brains, either.

                  • 2 votes
                  #14.4 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:41 PM EST
                  Reply
                  Comment author avatarViewer_ReadyExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

                  I got a perfortated eardrum once.

                  But it was from an abusive spouse slapping me.

                  She didn't get slapped back, (this time).

                    Reply#15 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:50 PM EST

                    maybe those whales got slapped by those tails !just think of the "tales" of damage a whale tail could do

                    • 1 vote
                    #15.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:32 PM EST
                    Reply

                    i was reading about those whales that stranded themselves and someone commented there that it was because of that sonar. it's too bad that they have to kill animals over something like testing sonar.

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#16 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:57 PM EST

                    Seems to me like a pretty decent reason to kill an animal, actually.

                    • 1 vote
                    #16.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:26 PM EST
                    Reply

                    You know what I do if the musics to loud! I go to another room. Adios whales!

                    • 3 votes
                    Reply#17 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:03 PM EST

                    Blaa Blaa Blaa and the moon is made of cheese...... Every damn time a fish or mammal dies around where the navy floats, the losers always comes up with this CRAP. And that is what it is, every time.......................

                    • 4 votes
                    Reply#18 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:09 PM EST

                    What's up with the constant comments about China? They have never bothered anyone....ever. Their only AC carrier is an old one that they bought from Bulgaria I think, without engines. It is one of those ones without a catapult. Their only military issue is Vietnam. Something about all the Vietnamese people are 6 foot tall with blond hair and round blue eyes. Jessssse! I wonder how that happened? LMAO

                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#19 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:19 PM EST

                    Yes, it's a mystery. Ha ha. [/sarcasm]

                    Those blond blued-eyed people are Americans who have been denied their rights.

                      #19.1 - Sat Jan 28, 2012 12:58 PM EST
                      Reply

                      There is no reason for the testing-they are destroying a lot more than just these sensitive marine mammals and

                      to no real point or purpose---these experiments have outlived any usefulness

                      Honest to God, if they want a planet devoid of life--by God that is just what they are doing--

                      • 3 votes
                      Reply#20 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:20 PM EST

                      Don't worry, God's watching always and he's with us. He doesn't like greed though and punishes for that.

                      • 1 vote
                      #20.1 - Fri Jan 27, 2012 1:15 AM EST
                      Reply

                      Tired of these @!$%#ing environmentalists arguing the importance of animals over the importance of humans. Even if there was only a small potential gain from what the military is planning on doing, (and there is a large potential gain) I would be for it. The purpose of animals on this planet it to provide food for humans, to test things that are too dangerous to test on humans, and to provide companions in the form of domesticated animals. These things are acceptable because humans are dominant and animals are inferior. Humans control the world because humans are the only intelligent life on the planet, and possibly in this galaxy. So stop feeding us your bull@!$%# lies about how we should protect inferior creatures at our own expense.

                      • 2 votes
                      Reply#21 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:21 PM EST

                      some typos, purpose of animals on this planet is to provide food for humans

                      • 2 votes
                      #21.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:23 PM EST

                      @humans take precedent

                      Fortunetly, you are an animal too. I'm getting hungry so I think I will eat you since you are less intelligent than I am. The purpose of animals, according to you after all, is to provide food for humans.

                      Does everyone like theirs medium rare or well done?

                      • 6 votes
                      #21.2 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:54 PM EST
                      Reply

                      I currently live on the Central Coast of California and have lived in Washington and Oregon. Yes, I am fond of whales and dolphins. I have personally watched them surface off the coast with such grace and beauty- watched them in the waters off of Alaska. Not happy the Navy has chosen this particular location since there is a migration of humpback and blue whales throughout the year. But in their defense.... not sure any location would be safe to test the sonar. My hope is that they listen to people who work and research these animals to come to a compromise as to when and where this takes place. Sad that it's probably not going to happen and many animals may suffer from another hand of man. But I guarantee that if a whale washes up on the coast of California.... Washington may have their hands full with a State full of environmentalist.

                      • 4 votes
                      Reply#22 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:21 PM EST

                      why should anyone care about sea life because we really don't give a crap about anything else!!! This 'earth' we are occupying and abusing will one day get back at us with a vengeance but why should we care b/c most of us probably won't be around to experience it but our grandkids and great grand kids will. we are harming soo much of the good around us for the sake of technology etc etc. Why don't we take steps to help reduce the possiblity of endangering these animals....but as usual we will only say ooops maybe we should have done this differently when it's already too late!! ie. global warming....man made or a natural cycle....who knows!??!? BUT you can't deny it's existence....so let's error on the cautious side before it's all too late!! Peace and smiles!!

                      • 3 votes
                      Reply#23 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:24 PM EST
                      Reply

                      How about a compromise? If the Navy needs to test it's sonar, then when the Whales and Orcas are migrating, they test somewhere else! Sometimes, when Whales and Orcas are sick and are going to die, they beach themselves. And, sometimes, it has nothing to do with the Navy or anyone else. That's sad, but it does happen. Maybe, we should be worrying more about polluting the Oceans!

                        Reply#24 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:25 PM EST
                        Comment author avatarRoberto L. Riveravia Facebook

                        This is rediculous. Our U.S. Navy protect our nation not protect whales. They'll never win this. Especially in these times when we could end up in a war at any time. We got terrorists and pirates making threats to our country. What if a bunch of terrorists get a hold of a submarine and start sinking our ships. We have to go after them and we can't because we cannot use our sonar because of whales. Our country's secuity comes before any whales. These environmental wakos are putting our country in jeapordy.

                        • 2 votes
                        Reply#25 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:25 PM EST

                        Not unless we start another war

                        • 2 votes
                        #25.1 - Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:34 PM EST
                        Reply
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