U.S. Navy Sonar May Harm Killer Whales, Expert Says: "Balcomb says he's convinced that the U.S. Navy ships played a role in the destruction. The research biologist is not alone. In recent years whale beachings in the Bahamas, Madeira island, and the Canary Islands have been linked to U.S. Navy sonar exercises.
Sonar Impact
Exactly how sonar affects the behavior of—and possibly injures—marine mammals, remains a contentious issue.
A study published last October in the science journal Nature argued that naval sonar exercises could have killed beaked whales in the Canary Islands—located off northwest Africa—by forcing them to surface too quickly, causing decompression sickness, or the bends.
Balcomb said the unusual orca behavior he observed near Puget Sound last year brought to mind a whale stranding that occurred three years earlier in the Bahamas."
No comments:
Post a Comment