Thousands of whales, dolphins and other marine mammals could suffer permanent injury—and even death—from warfare training exercises if the Navy walks back their agreement to a reasonable testing and training plan.
Over the next five years, the Navy wants to fire tens of thousands of rockets, missiles and projectiles and blast sonar for tens of thousands of hours in waters off Hawai‘i and Southern California that are home to dozens of vulnerable marine mammal species. To marine mammals, the deafening sounds from Navy activities can be fatal. In the dark depths of the ocean, these mammals rely almost entirely on sound to “see” their world. It’s how they feed, mate, communicate and navigate. If a whale or dolphin can’t hear, it can’t survive.
Before the Navy can adopt its testing and training plan, it needs to consider public input under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. You have only until December 12 to tell the Navy to commit to a reasonable plan that achieves military preparedness while maximizing marine mammal safety.
