There’s a lot of talk about war these days. But one has to wonder which war the September NATO maneuvers off the Canary Islands were in training for. Is it the war on life in the seas? These NATO maneuvers were called “Neo Tapon 2002” and involved large numbers of ships, submarines and airplanes, including several U.S. Navy ships. Acoustic exercises were a part of these maneuvers.

While these exercises were being conducted off shore, a number of whales beached themselves. Six of the whales, still alive, were pushed back out to sea in an effort to save them. It isn’t known if they survived. It is known that at least nine whales died. The whales were beaked whales, from three different species.

Faculty of the Veterinary Department of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and members of a local whale research organization conducted necropsies on eight of these dead whales. Preliminary reports indicate that the whales had been healthy, had fed recently, but had suffered from cranial hemorrhaging, a potentially severe injury associated with acoustic trauma. Michel Andre, a veterinary researcher, stated “autopsies on the dead whales found brain damage consistent with impacts from military sonar signals.”

Unfortunately, this mass-stranding was nothing new to the Canary Islands. Since 1985, there have been six others. In at least four of these, it has been documented that naval maneuvers were taking place in the area at the time.

In other places, similar mass strandings have occurred. In 1996, NATO was conducting exercises off the coast of Greece when a mass-stranding occurred nearby. In 2000, U.S. Navy sonar exercises in the Bahamas coincided with the mass-stranding there that included whales and dolphins from four species. Of 10 historically recorded mixed-species mass-strandings involving beaked whales, all 10 occurred while naval maneuvers took place in the area. It is likely that many whales have been killed, but far from any shore, simply died and sank, unrecorded.

It is obvious that high-intensity sonars being used by navies are killing whales. Even the U.S. Navy and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), in a joint report, acknowledged the Navy’s mid-range tactical sonar caused the mass stranding and deaths in the Bahamas. That event likely impacted the entire resident population of beaked whales, as it seems to have disappeared.

While these sonar’s most obvious victims are whales, it may be causing other casualties as well. The fact is that no studies have been done on what impacts they have on the sea’s other inhabitants. There are some things, however, that we do know. Studies have shown that even moderate increases in noise levels can have harmful effect on hearing in fish. One study has shown that when fish were exposed to sound levels 40 to 50 decibels above normal, the viability of fish eggs and growth rates in fry were significantly reduced. Fisherman in the United Kingdom have been reporting that fish stocks are being reduced when the Royal Navy’s sonar is deployed in exercises, and have called for an investigation into the sonar’s impacts on fish. In a report, the National Research Council expressed concern about the potential impacts of loud low frequency sound on marine life, including zooplankton, fish and turtles. They stated that if the food chain is affected, all marine life will be adversely impacted.

The U.S. Navy intends on generating lots of loud low-frequency sound when it begins deployment of it’s Low Frequency Active (LFA) sonar. At an effective source level of around 240 decibels, tens of thousands of square miles of ocean will be filled with extremely loud, dangerous levels of sound.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has filed suit to block the Navy’s deployment of LFA sonar. They are joined by a coalition of organizations in this lawsuit. In another suit, NRDC is challenging the Navy’s program that tests new intense sonars, such as the one used in the Bahamas incident, charging such tests must first undergo a full environmental review. It’s the law.

Speaking of the law, the 1982 United Nations Law of the Sea Convention states that all countries have “the obligation to protect and preserve the marine environment.” The use of high-intensity naval sonars violates this U.N. Convention in a number of specific ways. Although the U.S. refused to ratify this convention, it’s principals are still obligatory, as they have become a binding norm of customary international law.

So, while the war on life in the sea continues, its victims’ numbers grow, as does evidence implicating these high-intensity sonars. But that is not all that is growing. Resistance to this war on life grows as well. Please join the resistance. Contact your congressional delegation, and firmly request they take meaningful action to put an end to this, and all wars on life.

Russell Wray, of Sullivan, works with Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats.