Posted on 11/11/2014 11:52:13 AM PST by Bettyprob
WASHINGTON – Worried about collateral damage to whales, dolphins and other marine life, environmentalists are fighting the U.S. Navy in court in a bid to protect the creatures of the sea from war games in the Pacific Ocean.
"The worst harm comes from the explosives going off," said David Henkin, an attorney for EarthJustice.
U.S. Navy testing and war games are underway in American waters off the coasts of California and Hawaii. The drills amount to critical practice for the military and last through 2018, but environmental groups like EarthJustice say hundreds of marine mammals will die or get injured by the time the Navy is through. They said they don't want to stop the Navy from training -- but change how they do it.
The testing areas are home to nearly 40 marine mammal and five sea turtle species. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Navy will conduct 500,000 hours of sonar testing between 2013 and 2018. During that time, 260,000 bombs, missiles and other explosives will be tested.
According to an analysis of the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of the Department of Commerce charged with protecting mammals, the estimated damage to the marine life includes the deaths of 155 whales, dolphins and seals; 2,000 permanent injuries to marine mammals; and 9.6 million incidents of temporary hearing loss and behavior changes in areas like migration, nursing and feeding.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I’m for protecting critters from unnecessary injury when possible and not ruinously costly. Can the Navy just do some annoying things to get them to exit the target area before operations start, or choose an area where few or none of them are in residence?
If an animal is too stupid to flee from loud noises and man, its fate rightfully rests in the hands of man. Liberals have long relished seeing man annihilated by the beasts of the world (both animal and Muslim), so their opinions are probably grounded more in malice than in stupidity.
Drop the ecowackos off in the area and watch the critters haul butt out of the area. Then commence the games with the asshats still there.
Again????? They did the same thing ten or more years ago. Do they ever get tired?
Apparently they place the lives of sea creatures above that of human lives. Geez!
If there’s one thing that old age has taught me along the way, it’s to despise any group with the word “Justice” as part of its name.
So far, my instincts have served me well.
First the wackos force the Navy to stop using its high powered sonar, now they want the Navy to pretend to fire ordinance.
The whole thing is actually an attempt to eliminate the Navy.
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