To the dismay of the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled Monday that the Navy is not exempt from complying with the National Environmental Policy Act and a court injunction that created a 12 nautical-mile no-sonar zone off Southern California. Evidence through scientintific examination concur that loud sonar can damage the brains and ears of marine animals, sonar that the Navy uses can disrupt natural sonar of the animals and will interfere with the animals ability to find food, and can in a sense short circuit their ability to navigate and keep in contact with other members of their pods and or communicate with other whales in different pods. Many whales that are fatally impacted can sink to the bottom of the ocean so the correct number of whale deaths cannot be counted. Sonar off the Canary Islands in 2002 prompted 10 beaked whales to surface too quickly, causing decompression sickness, an ailment known among divers as the bends. Experts worldwide have condemned the use of high intensity sonar in the marine environment. Researchers have found that many humpback whales cease singing when exposed to an LFA sonar signal that is hundreds of miles distant.
Around the globe, nations are testing and beginning to deploy "active sonar" technology, which uses extremely loud sound to detect submarines.
All aspects of the ill effect of sonar can be devastating to the whales.
Bush administration issued a long-sought permit allowing the Navy to use the biggest gun in its active-sonar arsenal, the SURTASS LFA system, in as much as 75 percent of the world's oceans
President Bush, who is anti environmental, signed a waiver Jan. 15 exempting the Navy and its anti-submarine warfare exercises from the injunction, arguing the exercises are vital to the nation's national security. Bush and his morons have openly disagreed with the judges ruling. The judge also commented that she believes that Bush's injunction is unconstitutional and even if not the injunction would not hold up.
The Navy contends that they are very attuned to the concerns of wildlife and try not to cause any species harm. The Navy has appealed the decision to the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision has went back to the U.S. District Court for a decision regarding whether the Navy may continue to do the exercises until a final verdict has been reached by the Appeals Court
So far the Navy has not commented on what sort of action that they might take against the judges ruling if things do not go the way the Bush administration wants.
The Bush administration has set back environmental laws to what they were almost 60 years ago, and subsequently ruined much of what has been gained through out the 6 decades of environmental awareness. Bush's apparent disregard of the planet and its habitants are plainly apparent by his continuous bad decision and policymaking. America will be so much better off come November 08 when we will elect a new president (Democrat) to run this country. An individual from a political party, supported by the mass's who respects the environment and all life on our planet.