The Navy's Active Sonar Could Be the Cause of Beached Whales

Sound effects

Whales use their hearing to follow migratory routes, help care for their young, find food sources and find other whales even from great distances. Certain high frequency noises can damage their hearing, thus making it impossible for them to live. According to Marine Scientists certain sounds have been proven to divert whales from their migratory paths, stop some whales from singing, and to cause whales to do things they would not normally do like beach themselves.

Active Sonar was believed to have caused a massive beaching of Beaked Whales off the coast of Greece in 1996. NATO had been testing their Active Sonar System at the time, which only goes to confirm the risks of doing so.

LFA

LFA stands for Low Frequency Active Sonar. In order to evade the Environmental Protection Act, the U.S. Navy has conducted testing of the LFA in secret and led the push for the use of using the Active Sonar even though they knew full well the damaging effects the noise may have on the Whale's lives and populations throughout the world.

Active Sonar technology uses sounds to detect Submarines in the ocean's all over the world. The sounds this technology emits can kill or injure several different types of marine mammals, including dolphins, Sea Turles and whales.

The Effects

In 2000, a U.S. Navy Battle Group used Active Sonar in the area where several whales of four different species beached themselves in the Bahamas. At first the Navy denied their Sonar Technology was to blame until their own investigation found severe acoustic trauma had caused hemorrhaging around the whales' eyes and ears. A study by the government concluded with much certainty that the whales' injuries were caused by mid-frequency sonar that ships in the area had been using. Marine Scientists believe that whales' and dolphins often times beach themselves after being injured by the sonar.