Loud and Clear: Marine Mammals and Military Sonar

As these marine mammals echolocate to detect objects and orient themselves, submerged military previously tested their "sound navigation and ranging" or sonar in these waters to find other forms and move. With echolocation, odontoceti like porpoises, dolphins, and non-baleen whales produce a focused beam of clicks from specialized organs in their heads and perceive essential information from the echo. Similarly with active sonar, undersea vessels make pulses of sound called pings with electric signal generators and discern important data from the sound waves' reflections.

These signals vary in frequency and loudness, and undersea acoustics are complicated, but it seems that sonar may harm marine mammals. As one of Scitable's new, exciting blogs, Saltwater Science, just discussed, a controversy exists concerning the impact of noise pollution on ocean life. Sonar comprises only a part of all marine noise, but new Scitable blogger Sara Mynott points out that it may contribute to decompression sickness in whales. Without delving into the pathology here, I think this news coming out of the Canary Islands, when considered as historical evidence, represents a convincing argument of the damage sonar can do.

The catalyzing event for these developments occurred in late September 2002, when ten NATO countries gathered in the Atlantic to conduct a multinational military exercise called Neo Tapon. Designed as a mock operation to secure the Strait of Gibraltar, the Spanish-hosted drill involved 30 NATO ships and submarines that used mid-range sonar.²

Coinciding with the exercise, fourteen beaked whales were found stranded ashore Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, two of the Canary Islands. Half of the animals died, while the other half were returned to the ocean. Over the next three days, four more whales were found lifeless. Biological tests showed that the animals hadn't been sick, but had suffered injuries now linked to sonar, such as "severe, diffuse congestion and hemorrhage" and embolisms in various organs. Additionally, according to Michel Andre, a veterinary scientist who lead investigations into the deaths, this was "the seventh time there [was] a coincidence ... between NATO exercises and the stranding of beaked whales" since 1985.³

With the public's attention, two years later the European Parliament passed a moratorium on high-intensity naval sonar, and the Spanish Ministry of Defense prohibited all active sonar training near Canary Islands.⁴ And, as it bears repeating, there have been zero mass odontoceti strandings in the sonar-ban zone since the policy was implemented.

Taken as a longitudinal, in situ experiment, these coinciding occurrences seem beyond chance and should inform decision-making about military sonar worldwide. Unfortunately, the US Navy sees it differently and is now seeking to expand sonar exercises off the coasts of California and Hawaii.

Five years ago, when naval commanders previously sought approval to train there, the National Resource Defense Council sued, and the case reached the US Supreme Court, who sided with the Navy for reasons of national security.⁵ Now, they are seeking to expand the program, and according to their own environmental impact statement, this sonar training could unintentionally harm marine mammals up to 2.8 million times each year for the next five years.⁶

The California Coastal Commission objects to this plan and has asked for sonar restrictions, such as the avoidance of sensitive seasonal zones. Saying they "absolutely share the concern," the US Navy has pledged that they will halt sonar training if marine mammals are spotted within a certain distance, but that they will not avoid any specific areas. In the words of an environmental program manager with their Pacific Fleet, "We rely on this large area. And when you start to segment it in little areas where you can't go here, can't go there, it really affects the training realism."⁷

For the sake of national security, "training realism" here trumps wildlife protection. The US Navy accepts these injuries as collateral damage, and the last time the topic was reviewed, the approving agency for the plan, the National Marine Fisheries Service, agreed. Due to this attitude, however, I think it's essential to bring into the debate a lesser known program of the US Navy's, the Marine Mammal Program, which has been training animals for military service since 1960.

During the Vietnam War, for instance, dolphins worked as undersea sentinels for the US Navy and guarded an ammunition pier in Cam Ranh Bay.⁸ Then during the Iraq War in 2003, nine dolphins became the first marine mammals to aid a mine-clearing operation in an active combat zone by working with a special clearance team to "disarm 100 antiship mines and underwater booby traps planted in Umm Qasr's port by Saddam Hussein's forces."^9,10 Earlier this month, two Navy-trained dolphins even discovered a rare Howell torpedo, which was built in the late 1800s as the first self-propelled torpedo used by US armed forces.¹¹

In light of this service and the success of the Canary Islands intervention, I feel the military must reconsider its sonar training plans and at least discuss off-limits zones. It seems ethically inconsistent for the US Navy to expose dolphins to lethal noise while simultaneously relying on them to mine-sweep and find historically important torpedoes.

According to naval models, dolphins will be the most impacted species by the planned exercises, followed by beaked whales and orcas. If these animals have enough intelligence to serve this country, this country has a responsibility to ensure a safer "training realism."

Image credit: Image of dolphin jumping out of the water by Flickr's Gitgat.

***Actor Pierce Brosnan has partnered with the National Resource Defense Council to protest expanded sonar training. Click here if you'd like to sign their petition.***

1. Fernández, A., Arbelo, M., & Martín, V. (2013). Whales: No mass strandings since sonar ban. Nature, 497, 317-317 DOI: 10.1038/497317d

2. Socolovsky, J. "NATO exercise Neo Tapon 2002 Causes Mass Whale Beachings and Deaths." AP. October 20, 2002

3. Fernández, A., Edwards, J.F., Rodríguez, F., Espinosa de los Monteros, A., Herráez, P., Castro, P., Jaber, J.R., Martín, V., Arbelo, M. (2005). "Gas and fat embolic syndrome" involving a mass stranding of beaked whales (family Ziphiidae) exposed to anthropogenic sonar signals. Veterinary pathology, 42, 446-457 PMID: 16006604

4. Hinerfeld, D. & Heskett, E. "International Agreement Calls On Member States To Curb Military Sonar And Other Noise Technology." National Resources Defense Council Press Release. Novermber 11, 2004.

5. Craig, R. K. Beyond Winter v. NRDC: A decade of litigating the Navy's active SONAR around the environmental exemptions.Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, Vol. 36, 2009; FSU College of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 328; FSU College of Law, Law, Business & Economics Paper. November 27, 2008.

6. Llanos, M. "Navy Raises Sonar Impact on Dolphin, Whales Dramatically." NBC News. May 11, 2013.

7. Sommer, L. "Navy Sonar Criticized For Harming Marine Mammals." NPR. April 26, 2013.

8. Kreider, R. "The Real Navy Seals — and Sea Lions and Dolphins and Whales." ABC News. May 31, 2011.

9. Frey, Lt. j.g. J. "Anti-swimmer Dolphins Ready to Defend Gulf." Navy.mil. August 12, 2003

10. Gasperini, W. "Uncle Sam's Dolphins." Smithsonian Magazine. September 2003.

11. Perry, T. "Navy Dolphins Discover Rare Old Torpedo off Coronado." Los Angeles Times. May 17, 2013.