U.S. Navy Sued to Protect Critically Endangered Whales
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The USWTR has the potential
to affect millions of marine animals including
whales, dolphins, sea turtles and manatees, and
the planned site lies adjacent
to the only known calving grounds of the
critically endangered North Atlantic
right whale.
AWI is being represented
by the non-profit public interest
law firm Earthjustice in the suit which
includes 12 other groups. The suit
alleges the Navy and National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), which has
authorized the project, did not properly
analyze the environmental impacts of
operating the range before deciding to
construct it. The Navy acknowledges that
more work is needed to assess the environmental
impacts but it chose to proceed
nevertheless.
"It is shocking that
despite the concerns expressed by
scientists, conservation and animal welfare
groups, fishermen and the states of
Georgia and Florida, the Navy decided to go
ahead with the project without
comprehensive impact assessments," said Cathy
Liss, President of AWI. "Scientists
tell us that if a single female right whale is
struck and killed, the species
could go extinct. Extreme precaution is the
only way to proceed when faced with
such risks" she added.
The range will
include the laying of cables on the
sea bed to track the 470 war games exercises
that will take place each year.
Each exercise will include up to three Navy
vessels, and two aircraft deploying
exercise torpedoes, parachutes and sonobuoys.
Debris from the exercises will be
abandoned, posing entanglement and other
hazards to marine animals. Active sonar
will be used during the exercises and has been
proven to harm and kill wildlife
by disturbing essential behaviors such as
nursing, feeding and breeding, causing
physical injury and even causing animals to
strand and die. Navy vessels - exempt from
speed restrictions imposed on other vessels to
avoid right whale
collisions - will expose animals to the risk of
being struck and maimed or
killed.
"The number and severity of
threats this range poses to the
marine life of the lower Eastern Seaboard is
incredible," said Susan Millward,
Executive Director of AWI and marine animal
program manager. "The Navy has an
obligation to ensure its actions do not
threaten the environment and by allowing
the Navy to proceed, NMFS is betraying the
public's trust in it to protect these
animals."
The challenge was filed in
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of Georgia by the Animal
Welfare Institute, Defenders of
Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United
States, Whale and Dolphin
Conservation Society, Natural Resources Defense
Council, Center for a
Sustainable Coast, Florida Wildlife Federation,
North Carolina Wildlife
Federation, South Carolina Coastal Conservation
League, Ocean Mammal Institute,
Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats and
Cetacean Society International. The
groups are represented by attorneys from
Southern Environmental Law Center,
Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice and Natural
Resources Defense Council.
