Navy Limiting Sonar and Explosions in Right Whale Habitat
November 4, 2018

A North Atlantic right whale with her calf off the coast of the southeastern United States.
Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, NOAA Permit #15488

The U.S. Navy has announced that they will be limiting the use of sonar and explosives in certain areas to reduce negative impacts on North Atlantic right whales in order to help comply with federal laws protecting them. In the right whale's entire critical habitat area in the northeast, the Navy will limit the use of sonar and explosives and will also expand the protected areas in the southeast to fifty nautical miles along Georgia's northern coast from the shoreline out to twelve nautical miles. The Virginian-Pilot reported that the Navy has also "committed to not conducting shock trials on ships near its Jacksonville, Florida, operating area during calving season from Nov. 15 through April 15." Shock trials are used to demonstrate a new ship's ability to withstand underwater explosions.

They reported that "The Navy also will broadcast awareness messages to its ships giving the locations of spotted right whales so they can reduce vessel strikes and operate at lower speeds during certain seasons when there have been reports of nearby whales." They have also agreed to not use explosives in certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico except during mine warfare training in order to help protect the Bryde's whale from the negative impacts of this training. There are less than 100 Bryde's whales in the Gulf of Mexico which makes their situation even more dire than that of the North Atlantic right whale.

While we are pleased with the fact that the military is reducing its impact on endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale, we hope that this is just the beginning and that further reductions in testing are put in place. Some of the tests and trials mentioned appear to just be moved to other times or other areas in the ocean which still leave marine life at risk from the devastating impact of excessive and unnatural noise in their environment. The ultimate goal would be to find safer ways to conduct tests that don't involve harming marine species while still maintaining and improving the capabilities of the Navy and their ships - a goal that we hope the Navy is striving for and that Congress should fully fund and support.

Source:
Navy to limit sonar, explosions in more areas off East Coast to protect endangered whales - The Virginian-Pilot