A Whale Of a Controversy Over Sonar
A disclaimer is in order. Let it be stipulated that I am in no way an authority on the United States Navy, the science behind sonar technology or the navigational systems of sea mammals such as whales.
But hey, that's never prevented me from espousing a point of view and now seems an inappropriate time to begin all that time-consuming nonsense of learning the facts. This is commentary.
The Navy is looking for a site for their sailors to practice sonar in a shallow-water environment, which sounds logical enough and they’ve selected the waters off North Carolina, a dicey choice. That particular area is habitat for two groups of whales, both the Beaked and Right whale. Right whales are endangered already and beaked whales have proven to be particularly sensitive to sonar.
But I guess the training has to proceed, else how are we to protect ourselves against the thousands of North Korean and Chinese submarines that ply our coasts? Only the Navy or Secretary Rumsfeld would have the answer to t…