Massive Offshore Oil Exploration Planned off Scotland – The UK government has announced the 25th offshore leasing round, a “record-breaking” offering of nearly 2300 development blocks, including nearly the entire coast of Scotland. “This represents the most substantial threat to Scotland’s seas in the modern age,” warned Green MSP Robin Harper, who demanded that UK ministers abandon the plans, and called on the SNP government in Edinburgh to oppose them. Read the rest of this entry »

California Appeals Court Hands Navy Sonar Setback; Supreme Court May be Next – The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday night rejected the Navy’s appeal of restrictions that banned high-powered sonar within 12 nautical miles of the coast and set other limits that could affect Navy training exercises to begin this month. One of the key measures upheld by the court was the maintenance of a 2200-yard safety zone, with sonar being shut down if a whale enters that radius; the Navy called for a 200-yard shut-down zone, with power-reductions starting only when a whale came within 1000 yards. Read the rest of this entry »

Hawaii Court Adds Restrictions to Navy Sonar Training – A Federal District Court in Hawaii has issued a preliminary injunction forcing the Navy to use additional safety measures during routine mid-frequency sonar training in Hawaii waters; Judge David Ezra will hold another hearing in April to consider long-term measures. The restrictions are slightly less strict than those imposed by a different District Court in California: Ezra increased the safety zone in which sonar must be powered down by 6db, from the Navy’s 1000m to 1500m, and sonar must be shut down if a whale is within 500, rather than 200m as they Navy planned.  Read the rest of this entry »

Digital downloads of favorite Pulse of the Planet programs – Pulse of the Planet, the long-running 2-minute public radio feature, is now offering large collections of mp3 versions of shows, grouped in popular themes. The first three sets (23-49 shoes each, priced at $5-9) focus on hurricanes and tornadoes, whales, and global warming.  [WEBPAGE]

Blue Whale Deaths Surge in SoCal: Ships Strikes, Not Sonar is Cause, but Noise May Be Factor – An unprecedented surge in blue whale deaths in Southern California last year has raised concerns about shipping and noise in the busy shipping lanes there. Five blue whales were found dead on beaches last fall, and the three that were fresh enough to examine showed clear signs of being killed by ship strikes; examination of ear tissues showed now sign of hearing damage, and mid-frequency active sonar is not a factor. However, the researchers from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, who performed the analysis of the whales, note that ambient noise levels in the area could have made it difficult for the whales to hear approaching ships,  Read the rest of this entry »

Public Hearings Scheduled on Supplement to Draft EIS – The Navy has released a supplement to its Draft EIS for the Hawaii Range Complex, and is holding public hearings in March to collect public comments on the new aspects. Plans still hold to release the final EIS this spring, and a Record of Decision before the summer RIMPAC exercises. The supplement addresses several areas: fine-tuning of the methodology used to assess behavioral responses to sonar sounds, a lower estimate of total sonar use, and a new preferred alternative in which future sonar use will not increase over current levels, while other training is expanded as planned.Source: Hawaii Reporter/Pacific Fleet Press Release, 2/23/08 [READ PRESS RELEASE]

Federal Judge Rejects White House Exemptions for CA Sonar (updated 2/19)– The federal judge who imposed additional safety requirements on Naval mid-frequency active sonar training off the California coast has rejected the Bush administration’s attempt to exempt the Navy from the laws she was enforcing. Central to this ruling is the fact that there is no “emergency” that warrents such intervention by the White House; the training missions at issue have been long planned, and can proceed, albeit with larger safety buffers and some geographic restrictions to avoid areas with higher numbers of whales.

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Court Forces Navy to Meet With NRDC to Limit LFAS Deployment, Again – In August, the Navy received a 5-year permit to operate its Low-Frequency Active Sonar system on two ships, nearly anywhere in the world, after several years during which its deployment was limited to a remote area of the West Pacific. This week, the same Federal Judge who ordered the earlier reduction in deployment issued a temporary restraining order calling on the Navy to keep its LFAS signals out of several sensitive marine areas worldwide, and to once again sit down with the NRDC and its allies to hammer out a mutually agreeable set of restrictions for the coming five years.  Read the rest of this entry »

Aussie Humpback Calving Ground Threatened by Noise and Nets – A key humpback whale calving ground off the western Australia coast is targeted for at least three disruptive developments in the coming years, prompting calls for its designation as a World Heritage Site.Camden Sound, a natural harbour north of Broome, and adjacent bays and islands are the main calving grounds for humpback whales making a 13,000km return journey from Antarctica each winter.  Read the rest of this entry »

Chukchi Lease Sale Set for February, Locals Seek Delay – The US Minerals Management Service has issued notice of its first oil and gas lease sale since 1991 along Alaska’s northwest coast. The sale, scheduled for February 6, covers about 25 million acres, out to about 200 miles offshore. The sale area will not include near-shore waters ranging from about 25 miles to 50 miles from the coastline, which includes the near-shore area through which bowhead and beluga whales, as well as other marine mammals and marine birds, migrate north in the spring, and in which local communities subsistence hunt. North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta said, “With all the changes happening out in the Chukchi Sea, I don’t think we should be adding to the problem with offshore oil exploration.”  Read the rest of this entry »

New San Diego Commuter Train Quieter Than Many Expected – The new Sprinter commuter train has begun test runs along lines that closely abut many residential areas in North County, CA, near San Diego. First impressions seem positive, with many residents noting the much quieter horns being used as the train approaches the many road crossings: the car-like horn sounds at just 85dB, as compared to standard freight and commuter train horns at 107dB. Tom Kelleher, a spokesman for the transit district, said he always expected the public to find the Sprinter much easier to live with than other passenger trains that traverse North County. “I think people really thought  Read the rest of this entry »

Quiet Autonomous Gliders Promise “New Era” in Acoustic Monitoring – A major step forward in acoustic monitoring has passed its first test. “We are entering a new era of underwater sensing,” says Jim Theriault of Defence Research and Development Canada, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who ran the first trial of small torpedo-shaped “gliders” as a platform for acoustic monitoring. Unlike other systems, which require a boat nearby to monitor either the tagging of whales or other autonomous vehicles, the gliders can use a satellite phone connection to return data to distant research bases. Also, the new system has enough data capability to detect not only low-frequency baleen whale calls, but also the high-frequency calls of sperm and beaked whales,  Read the rest of this entry »