Navy itself has recognized the danger that sonar systems represent for marine mammals. During testing off the California coast, noise from the Navy’s main low-frequency sonar system was detected across the breadth of the northern Pacific Ocean.” “Some systems operate at more than 235 decibels,” the NRDC has said, “producing sound waves that can travel across tens or even hundreds of miles of ocean. Low frequency sonar can be even more dangerous, the Natural Resource Defense Council asserts. In more recent years, “military exercises using mid-frequency sonar have been linked quite clearly to the disorientation and death of beaked whales,” says The Guardian. Natural phenomena such as seaquakes, underwater volcanic eruptions and meteorites crashing into the oceans have likely been the cause of whale beachings throughout history, by injuring the animals’ inner ears and sonar organs, frightening and disorienting them, and causing them to seek refuge in shallow waters. But unless these injuries cause external bleeding, they are very difficult to detect. Wind promoters themselves admit that their pile-driving can be heard up to 50 miles (80 kilometers) underwater, and can be harmful to whales that happen to be nearby. It is certainly possible that permanent damage to the cetaceans’ middle and inner ears, and thus to their built-in sonar, can result from large air guns used during seismic surveys and from violent bursts of noise associated with pilings being rammed into the rock bed. Andrews have found that the noise made by offshore wind farms can interfere with a whale’s sonar, and can in tragic cases see them driven onto beaches where they often die,” a UK Daily Mail article observed. Indeed, “researchers at the University of St. But, at the moment, I don’t see anything pointing in that direction.” He should look a bit harder. The article discards Royal Navy sonar and explosives, because “big naval exercises in UK waters are unusual in midwinter.” Finally, the author concludes with this quote from his purported expert: “When there’s a mass stranding, it’s always wise to look at possible human effects. “The whales become dehydrated because they obtain their water from squid,” he argues, before acknowledging that “the dead Dutch and German animals were well-fed,” and that the North Sea’s squid population has increased in recent years. But the author seems determined to pursue his “explanation,” even when it becomes increasingly illogical. These intelligent animals would naturally have found their way to and through the Channel by simply following the coast of England or continental Europe. After consulting with a marine environmental group, the paper concluded: “The North Sea acts as a trap.… It’s virtually impossible for to find their way out through the narrow English Channel.” That’s not surprising, as it tends to support wind energy no matter the cost to people or the environment. However, Britain’s Guardian looked for answers everywhere but in the right place. Indeed, that area has the world’s biggest concentration of offshore wind turbines, and there is ample evidence that their acoustic pollution can interfere with whale communication and navigation. Environmentalists and the news media offered multiple explanations – except the most obvious and likely one: offshore wind farms. For more such images see īetween January 9 and February 4 this year, 29 sperm whales got stranded and died on English, German and Dutch beaches. Environmentalists say navy sonar hurts whales, but ignore impacts of offshore wind farms Dead whale on European beach.
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