QuoteIn August 2009, the U.S. Navy announced that it will construct its Undersea Warfare Training Range near the only known calving ground for the endangered North Atlantic right whale (map of right whale calving grounds and Navy project). Right whales gather in the calving ground off southern Georgia and northern Florida each winter through spring to give birth and raise their calves. It is designated as critical habitat for the species of which only 350-400 individuals remain.
The calving grounds are adjacent to the planned training range which would encompass a 500-square mile area and a marine protected area for commercially valuable snapper and grouper. The Navy did not include the environment in its site selection criteria and decided to move ahead with the project before completing the necessary surveys of marine life within its selected 500-square mile location. According to the Navy, the $100 million undersea range would be used for anti-submarine warfare training for periods up to six hours about 470 times a year. The simulated warfare would use submarines, surface ships and aircraft, and would include the use of torpedoes and sonar.
http://www.southernenvironment.org/cases/navy_whales/
QuoteSince I last wrote about the plight of the critically endangered right whales, Earthjustice attorneys are in federal court to challenge a government plan that could spell disaster for the whales ... but we need your support to see us through this court case.
Please support our court case to save the right whales.
The U.S. Navy plans to build an Undersea Warfare Training Range next to the only known right whale calving grounds in the world -- potentially pushing this critically endangered species over the brink toward extinction.
Our attorneys have gone to court to ensure that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Navy implement meaningful safeguards to protect right whales and other endangered species before beginning training, but their success depends on your support.
Help us save the whales. Make an emergency contribution today.
The Navy's planned warfare training range would force the whales to run a deadly gauntlet of criss-crossing ships and submarines simply to reproduce.
NOAA has consistently identified ship strikes as one of the gravest threats to the right whale, yet it is allowing the Navy to bring this threat directly into the critical calving habitat.
Our legal team in Washington, D.C. -- representing several environmental organizations, including the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Animal Welfare Institute, and the Ocean Mammal Institute, free of charge -- is leading the court battle to protect these majestic creatures. In times of need, these groups turn to us ... and so we turn to you.
With fewer than 400 right whales remaining, these majestic creatures already face enough challenges to their survival.
In fact, the National Marine Fisheries Service has said that the "loss of even a single individual right whale may contribute to the extinction of the species."
http://www.earthjustice.org/about_us/offices_staff/
I support the USWTR... The navy takes active steps to avoid whales during exercises even canceling maneuvers if there may be an issue. The sensors located on the seafloor will actually aid those interested helping the right whale as their movements through the area will be tracked and monitored.
http://projects.earthtech.com/uswtr/
This topic reminded me of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN0qpz81XVc&feature=PlayList&p=64545DD465C2DD2C&index=51
http://www.youtube.com/v/N39J-yFRdEA
"And the great white whale rammed the ship, breaking it's keel, hoving in it's side..." Moby Dick
As the great novel is based on a true story, are we to keep all boats out of all water lest some stupid fish bump it's head?
If we go to war, we'll send the fish after them.
OCKLAWAHA