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ENVIRONMENT REPORT - Compromise
on U.S. Navy Sonar
By Cynthia Kirk
Broadcast: November 22, 2002
This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT
REPORT.
The United States Navy has agreed to temporarily limit testing of a
new low-frequency sound wave device it wants to use on ships in the
world's oceans. This sonar device is used to find enemy submarines at
great distances. The agreement is a compromise between the Navy and
environmental groups. The groups took legal action to halt the testing
of the new sonar system. They said the noise from the device would injure
or kill whales and other animals that live in the oceans.
Last month, a federal judge blocked the Navy
from using the sonar because it possibly violated environmental protection
laws. However, the judge also agreed with the Navy's claim that banning
the new sonar system could harm military readiness. She ordered the
two sides to work out a plan that would balance environmental and military
concerns.
Under the new agreement, the Navy will test
the new sonar system for seven months. The agreement limits testing
of the sonar to a much smaller area of the northwestern Pacific Ocean
than the Navy had planned. The area is not likely to have many large
ocean animals.
The new sonar system works by sending sound
waves through the water. When the sound waves hit an object, its presence
is confirmed. The new sonar can find objects ten times farther away
than the sonar used now. The Navy wants to use the new system in about
eighty percent of the world's oceans. The noise from the sonar is about
as loud as a large airplane leaving the ground.
Concern about the effects of the Navy's sonar has increased in recent
years. More than fifteen whales and a dolphin were found trapped on
land along several coasts two years ago. At least six of the whales
and the dolphin died. The Navy had used very loud sonar devices in deep
waters around the Bahama Islands.
The National Marine Fisheries Service and the
Navy investigated the incident. The investigators said the noise from
the sonar led to the deaths of the ocean animals. Investigators found
that the whales' ears had been severely damaged by the loud sounds of
the sonar. They found bleeding around their brains and ear bones. However,
the Navy said that the type of sonar used in the Bahamas was different
from the low-frequency systems it now wants to deploy.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT
was written by Cynthia Kirk.
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