Whales, dolphins and walruses cannot eat or mate and can even get separated with their young due to powerful navy sonar signals. (Photo : Wikimedia)
After United States federal courts ruled a decision for tighter and stricter restrictions for the use of powerful sonars from the U.S. Navy, environmental groups are now rejoicing since these sonars can disrupt and harm whales and other marine creatures.
In San Francisco's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, three judges unanimously ruled last Friday and decided that current federal rules apparently have not provided enough protection for the world's oceans.
To date, the Navy uses extreme low frequency sonars to detect the most silent submarines lurking from foreign origins, spanning a distance of hundreds of miles. However, these powerful sonars are dangerous for marine animals such as whales, dolphins and even walruses, since these creatures navigate their environment though sounds underneath the ocean.
Now, the court believes that these rules that were originally devised by the National Marine Fisheries Service based on a law passed by Congress, does not meet the law's requirements for the "least practicable adverse impact" on marine ecosystems.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council's Michael Jasny, this is because the U.S. Navy was allowed to roam and to operate in more than 70 percent of the planet's oceans, as if the oceans did not possess any marine life. The Natural Resources Defense Council is one of the groups that aims to block these current sonar rules.
One of the effects of submarine sonars is that these signals can cause the marine creatures to stop communications with each other, where it can lead to the animals stopping to forage for food and even separate them permanently from their offspring, and even interrupt mating and breeding season.
The ruling also insisted that the Navy has been deliberate and thoughtful in following federal regulations however, the court firmly believes that the agency did not exert enough efforts for the protection of these marine creatures.
The ruling also states that the result of this is that a meaningful proportion of the world's marine mammal habitat is clearly under protected.
In a 2012, 5-year ruling from a lower court judge, this new decision that was announced last Friday reversed these rules of covering peacetime operations that would span the Pacific, Atlantic oceans including the Indian ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. The case was sent back to the judge to reconsider for more restrictions when it comes to sonar usage and rules.
