As of June 23, 2008, the Supreme Court accepted a request by the United States Navy to review a series of lower court rulings that restrict the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises off the coast of Southern California. Originating in August of 2007 a U.S. Court in Los Angeles was later amended, in February the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was affirmed. In March, the Navy requested the review that was finally accepted. The court-impossed mid-frequency active sonar training restrictions include a requirement to shut down sonar altogether when marine mammals are within 2,200 yards of any sonar source. They are also requested to reduce sonar power by 75% when the Navy detects significant surface ducting conditions, regardless of if a marine mammal is present. The shut down of 2.200 yards is 11 times larger than the existing shutdown distance that the Navy developed in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service. If  the requirement  to reduce sonar power by the 75% regardless of whether the marine mammals are present or not, will prevent Navy strike groups from conducting training to detect submarines in the same conditions in which submarines seek to hide. The Navy is in a very difficult place, they are attempting to balance between the need for an effective combat force and protecting the environment. The Navy is making a considerable investment in the science, $26 million dollars on marine mammal research so far this year. 

Currently the U.S. Navy is actively researching the historical trends of marine mammals to ensure the effects on them are as minimal as possible. Not only is the U.S. Navy looking into the history, but they are also attempting to begin using active sonar to protect not only the marine mammals but the sailors as well. 

Although the Navy does realize that sonar may affect some marine mammals under certain conditions, there are many other sounds and factors in the ocean environment that will be likely to have a greater impact. Some people believe that this sonar activity is a major cause of marine mammal strandings, though there is not any very circumstantial evidence of this sonar involvement. In all reality, sonar-related strandings occur very rarely; and when placed into context with the thousands of other strandings around the world there are many other factors that are causing them while other factors are still being ignored. Some of the causes of them that are very often overlooked are things such as fishery entanglements, pollution, disease, parasite infestation, ship strikes, trauma, and starvation as well. Naturally there are also going to be some strandings due to the weather or oceanographic events. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recently publicized a report stating that sonar is rated last among the current threats to marine mammals. Sonar was only reported to threaten about 4% of the species, while 70% are endangered by fishing, and another 56% is threatened by the immense amount of pollution. 

Around 128  U.S. Navy ships and approximately 22 U.S. Navy submarines occupy the world’s oceans daily, and currently 90, or 58%,  of the Navy’s ships and subs are equipped with the active sonar. Though the Navy would prefer to use passive sonar so that they are not as actively detected as they would be while using the active sonar, the active sonar is used only about 1% of the time. The worldwide naval use of active sonar has been directly correlated with stranding deaths of approximately 40 whales within a 10 year period, from 1996-2006. As is stated in the information I’ve found, “this is only about 1/4 of 1% of the 3500+ strandings that occur each year on the U.S. shores.” Scanning for animals with passive sonar allow for the trained shipboard lookouts and available airborne assets prior to commencing on an exercise or any type of other events that the Navy may need to handle. The U.S. Navy has also reduced sonar levels by 75% if marine mammals are detected within 1,000 meters of the vessel’s sonar dome, and by 90% if a marine mammal is detected within 500 meters. They also cease the use of active sonar if a marine mammal is detected within 200 yards of an active source. 

The Navy is also regularly researching marine mammals, as they are the world leader in this research spend over $18 million annually on these research programs. In 2004 and 2005 the U.S. Navy-funded research produced approximately 65 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals. All this research done by the Navy has been favorably reviewed by three National Research Council panels over the past 6 years. Not only reviewed by the National Research Council, the research has also been reviewed by panels of independent experts, during the same time period, that also returned strongly favorable conclusions concerning the quality of the research emerging from the program. 

Note: The Navy’s policy is to operate in compliance with environmental  laws. To this end, we analyze the potential effects of our training and operations on the environment and cooperate with environmental regulatory agencies as appropriate based on those effects. We seek authorization from the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and/or consult with regulators under the Endangered Species Act, as required for our military readiness activities.

Supreme Court Accepts Navy Sonar Requests

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