Over the next five years, hundreds of dolphins and whales will be killed in the east, west and Gulf coasts as the United States Navy enacts training and testing using underwater explosives, the Daily Mail reports.
Thousands of marine mammals will likely also be injured as a result of the Navy's activity between the years of 2014 and 2019, areas off of the east coast, Gulf of Mexico, Southern California and Hawaii serving as branch training sites where underwater explosives will be detonated. The Navy applied to the National Marine Fisheries Service to obtain a permit for such activities. The organization then conducted subsequent studies on the potential harm to marine life in the regions.
However, the Navy insists that such training is essential, despite computer model simulations predicting that an estimated total of 341 whales and dolphins will die.
"Without this realistic testing and training, our sailors can't develop or maintain the critical skills they need or ensure the new technologies can be operated effectively," Rear Adm. Kevin Slates, the Navy's energy and environmental readiness division director, told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday.
Off the east coast, the National Marine Fisheries Services predicts 11,267 serious injuries and 1.89 million minor injuries like temporary hearing loss for marine mammals. In addition, marine mammals such as whales and dolphins may swim in different directions, their behaviors altered as a result of trauma from the explosives.
Michael Jasny, senior policy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Navy was underestimating the effect it would have on marine life, pointing to a study published last month in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society "showing mid-frequency active sonar can disrupt blue whale feeding."
"These smaller disruptions short of death are themselves accumulating into something like death for species and death for populations," Jasny said, adding that the oceans are "simply not sustainable" for such Naval activities.
