In October I shared news from the New York Times, in which we learned that the Supreme Court had "indicated an inclination to overturn a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, imposing limits on the exercises, saying either that national security concerns trumped environmental ones or that judges are not competent to weigh the competing interests." The New York Times followed the news with an editorial that argued strongly for the whales who are killed by the sonar.
Sadly, the whales lost week, in the Supreme Court's first opinion of its new term. The New York Times again spoke up for the whales, in an editorial on Saturday, November 15, headed, "Sonar Over Whales." (pA20). Many other newspaper editorial pages took a similar stance, including the Los Angeles Times, with an editorial headed, "Tell it To The Whales."
The New York Times editorial opens with:
"The Supreme Court showed extreme and troubling deference to the views of the military, deciding to lift two restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast.
"The sonar is used to detect extremely quiet diesel-electric submarines that might threaten a fleet. But the noise is earsplitting -- as loud as 2,000 jet engines, according to environmental groups -- to acoustically sensitive whales and other marine mammals."
It tells us that a district court and appeals court in California "had concluded that the Navy could effectively train its strike groups even under the two restrictions it most vigorously opposed: that sonar be shut down if marine mammals were spotted within 2,200 yards and powered down during certain rare sea conditions." Yet the Supreme court decided to lift those restrictions.
We read that the navy "estimated that the exercises would cause 436 injuries to a beaked whale population that barely exceeds 1,100 off the entire West Coast and 170,000 disruptions of mammal behavior."
The editorial ends with:
" We hope the next administration requires the Navy to take environmental harms more seriously."
You'll find the full piece on line at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/opinion/15sat3.htm
The Los Angeles Times editorial, "Tell it to the whales" (P A22) opens with the line:
"National security is the most crucial responsibility of the federal government."
But it tells us:
"Evidence is accumulating that the high-powered sonar used in these exercises causes hearing loss, panic and death among whales and other marine mammals, and the Navy didn't want to have to take steps to minimize the damage."
We read:
"Even though the Navy has already performed 13 of the 14 exercises using the precautions, with no apparent effect on sailors' readiness and few disruptions, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court bought the Navy's argument that the restrictions pose a threat to national security. So the two strongest precautions -- ordering the Navy to turn off the sonar when a marine mammal is spotted within 1.25 miles of a ship, and during certain atmospheric conditions that allow the sound to carry farther -- were eliminated."
It ends similarly to the New York Times editorial with, "We trust President-elect Barack Obama to take a wiser course when balancing biological diversity against a few inconveniences for the Navy."
You'll find it on line at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-sonar15-2008nov15,0,7572460.story
Or at this Tiny URL: http://tinyurl.com/5wshk5
Please thank the papers for their stands for the whales. And please consider sending a letter to your local paper about the issue. Some smaller papers publish close to one hundred percent of letters they receive, and the letters to the editor page is one of the most widely read sections of the paper.
Folks who have a copy of "Thanking the Monkey" can read some of the history of this issue in the section "War on the Whales" on page 284.
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals” and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.
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Date: Mon Nov 17 18:48:46 2008
