Whales beached by US Navy sonar, report finds

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia ^ | Monday, December 24, 2001 | By James Woodford, Environment Writer

[Byron_the_Aussie]

I'm a little surprised the Navy has acknowledged blame in this way. We have many strandings, and whales entering harbours, here on the south-east coast of Australia. That's been happening since long before sonar; matter of fact, whale strandings were a major source of food for coastal aborigines prior to European settlement. And many of the recent strandings and harbour visitations seem to be made by sick or injured whales. Doesn't it stand to reason they come inshore to get away from the sharks?

[mickie]

This just makes me ill.
It is not fair or right to murder Gods creations in such a horrible way.
Guess I'll join the first environmental group I can find!

[Byron_the_Aussie]

Whales and dolphins are under no threat whatsoever here in Oz. Dolphins in particular swim off the coast in schools of hundreds, if not thousands. Their numbers have increased exponentially since the yellowfin and bluefin tuna which competed for their food source were wiped out. And the fast sharks like makos that used to prey on them are very much reduced in numbers, too.

There's only one solution. Managed hunting. A ballot for a thousand dolphin tags would be a good start. High protein renewable resource, and all that. And I'll bet it would be popular, too. Sinking home the steel and watching the rope snake over the gunwale would be a hell of a lot more exciting than sitting up a tree waiting for a buck to come off a cornfield. :)

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...it is not fair or right to murder Gods creations in such a horrible way....

Appreciate your gentle sentiment, Mickie.

But you can't 'murder' something that doesn't have a soul.

[The Great RJ]

If this were the case, WW-II (not to mention the subsequent atomic tests in Pacific waters) should have caused a decimation if not extinction of whales given the amount of ordinance being dumped into the oceans and the number of sonars being used during those years. Is there any historical record of mass beaching of whales during the war?

[Teacher317]

Whales never beached themselves before the advent of sonar?

[Teacher317]

"For the whales it's like having a rock concert next door without any planning approvals whatsoever," Mr Connor said.
"All seismic testing and sonar equipment should have approval from the Commonwealth Environment Minister."

And exactly how are THEY going to let the whales know?

[Temple Owl]

Teddy?