I will always remember Ken Balcomb's moving testimony of watching orca flee in the wake of what later was confirmed as naval sonar testing. The necropsy's of orcas who seemingly died in the aftermath of this event, were found to have severe trauma to their sensitive sound system, with details too graphic to repeat here.
At the ACS conference this year, I heard about the ongoing litigation with NRDC to prevent this type of tragedy from recurring.
Sadly, as always, the military it seems will prevail. Able to ride roughshod over the laws it's own Congress creates--Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for one!
Here's a brief history of NRDC's actions against the behemoth to date:
NRDC v. Winter 2007
Sonar exercises planned for 2007-2009 in southern California waters - here the Navy sought, and was granted, exemption from the MMPA from the Bush Whitehouse CEQ (Council of Environmental Quality). It was questioned, but never clarified whether CEQ ever even had the authority to issue such an exemption!
Currently litigating in Florida and Georgia and in appeal at the 11th Circuit, over a 2010 decision to not uphold a critical habitat designation for North Atlantic right whales in their only known calving grounds!
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