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March 25, 2008
The US Navy held a public meeting regarding Sonar Testing at Maui Waena Elementary School in Kahului on Friday, March 14. It was designed as an interactive event, where you could watch a video, talk with Navy personnel, find out the status of the draft Environmental Impact Statement and submit testimony, either written or oral, on the subject. Following is the testimony that Kihei resident Mike Moran gave during the course of that meeting:
“Once again, the Navy is failing to offer reasonable protection to our aquatic environment in Hawaii with this Draft EIS, and failing to offer reasonable explanation why these practice sessions must be held in near-shore Hawaiian waters. In spite of overwhelming evidence of injury and death to whales and other marine mammals caused by mid frequency active sonar use, the Navy persists in using it in areas where mother whales are birthing on a regular recurring basis.
“Unfortunately, this February 2008 version of the draft EIS, with its exhausting 116 pages, is an inadequate analysis by the Navy, as was the prior 2005 draft. The Navy insists on using selective science to form assumptions that do not apply in the real world marine environment, and chooses to ignore scientific evidence of injury and death to marine mammals which occur in regions where active sonar use occurs...
“There are numerous ways active sonar can injure or kill marine mammals: ear and other tissue damage caused by the sonic waves, induced panic from the sonic waves causing strandings on shore, induced panic in deep diving whales making them ascend too quickly, causing ‘the bends,’ or decompression sickness, and even naturally occurring fairly rapid ascent combined with the sonic wave also causing ‘the bends’.
“The Navy acknowledges that ‘Sonar exposure has been identified as a contributing cause or factor in five specific mass strandings: Greece in 1996; the Bahamas in March 2000; Madeira, Portugal in 2000; the Canary Islands in 2002, and Spain in 2006.’
“This is you, the Navy, stating this, but you then choose to ignore this problem! Also ignored is Hawaii’s own July 11, 2004 mass strandings of 200 melon -headed whales in the Hanalei Bay area of Kauai during naval exercises there. Since the Navy refuses to offer ‘after action reports’ of sonar use relating to date, time or location, scientists are prohibited from being able to prove the likely cause/effect relationship there.
“As objective federal judges in courts in California and courts right here in Hawaii are issuing rulings calling for further mitigation by the Navy in the use of active sonar, the Navy chooses to ignore the court rulings.
“Judge David Ezra ruled that the Navy cannot conduct exercises within 12 nautical miles of Hawaii’s shorelines, which is where marine mammals that are particularly sensitive to sonar are found. He also ruled that the Navy must look for marine mammals for one hour each day before using sonar, and employ three lookouts exclusively to spot the animals before sonar use. However, it was just reported by the Associated Press on March 12, ‘The Navy says it will go ahead with the planned anti-submarine warfare exercises this month, and then determine whether to seek additional clarifications and modifications from the judge.’ Let’s just do it first, and then ask if this is what the ruling meant.”
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