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According to a report by the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission, one of the world's leading bodies of whale biologists, the evidence linking sonar to a series of whale strandings in recent years is "very convincing and appears overwhelming." Despite the broad scientific consensus that military active sonar kills whales, the use of this deadly sonar in the world's oceans is spreading.

An NRDC-led coalition of wildlife advocates succeeded in restricting the U.S. Navy's use of a powerful active sonar system known as SURTASS LFA in 2003. But the fight is hardly over; other nations are developing LFA-type systems of their own, and sonar testing using mid-frequency sonar systems, which have been implicated in numerous strandings of whales worldwide, continues unabated, putting marine mammals and fisheries at risk. And the Bush administration is now appealing the legal victory that compelled the Navy into compromise.

In response, NRDC and its partners have redoubled our campaign, both at home and abroad, to control the spread of this harmful technology. In October 2005, after attempting for years to engage the Navy in constructive dialogue on the harms caused by its mid-frequency sonar systems, NRDC brought suit in U.S. federal court, together with a coalition of wildlife advocates, asking that the Navy take common-sense precautions during peacetime training with mid-frequency sonar.

Such measures include, for example, putting rich marine mammal habitat off limits; avoiding migration routes and feeding or breeding areas when marine mammals are present; and listening with passive sonar to ensure marine mammals are not in the testing area before switching on active sonar. We are also continuing to support our hard-won agreement limiting deployment of the Navy's LFA system, defending our victory in court from the Navy's appeal.

Internationally, NRDC is working hard to raise awareness of the problem of ocean noise. NRDC and several other international conservation groups -- together representing millions of members -- are pressuring international institutions to reduce sonar's harm to whales and other marine life, and getting results:

• In October 2004, in response to urging by this new coalition, the European Parliament called on its 25 member states to stop deploying high-intensity active sonar until more is known about the harm it inflicts on whales and other marine life.

• In November 2004, the World Conservation Congress of the IUCN approved a resolution calling for international action to address the problem of ocean noise, including military sonar.

• In February 2005, the coalition petitioned NATO to use simple safety measures to protect marine life from needless harm during sonar exercises.

Some nations, like Spain, have already begun to change their sonar practices, prohibiting exercises in certain sensitive areas.

Active Sonar: How It Harms Marine Life

Military active sonar works like a floodlight, emitting sound waves that sweep across tens or even hundreds of miles of ocean, revealing objects in their path. But that kind of power requires the use of extremely loud sound. Each loudspeaker in the LFA system's wide array, for example, can generate 215 decibels' worth -- sound as intense as that produced by a twin-engine fighter jet at takeoff.

Some mid-frequency sonar systems can put out over 235 decibels, as loud as a Saturn V rocket at launch. Even 100 miles from the LFA system, sound levels can approach 160 decibels, well beyond the Navy's own safety limits for humans.

Evidence of the harm such a barrage of sound can do began to surface in March 2000, when whales of four different species stranded themselves on beaches in the Bahamas after a U.S. Navy battle group used active sonar in the area. Investigators found that the whales were bleeding internally around their brains and ears. Although the Navy initially denied responsibility, the government's investigation established with virtual certainty that the strandings were caused by its use of active sonar. Since the incident, the area's population of Cuvier's beaked whales has all but disappeared, leading researchers to conclude that they either abandoned their habitat or died at sea.

The Bahamas, it turned out, was only the tip of an iceberg. Additional mass strandings and deaths associated with military activities and active sonar have occurred in Madeira (2000), Greece (1996), the U.S. Virgin Islands (1998, 1999), the Canary Islands (1985, 1988, 1989, 2002, 2004), the northwest coast of the United States (2003) and coastal waters off North Carolina (2005). And in July 2004 researchers uncovered an extraordinary concentration of whale strandings near Yokosuka, a major U.S. Navy base off the Pacific coast of Japan. The Navy's active sonar program appears to be responsible for many more whale strandings than had previously been imagined.

How does active sonar harm whales? According to a report in the scientific journal Nature, animals that came ashore during one mass stranding had developed large emboli, or bubbles, in their organ tissue. The report suggested that the animals had suffered from something akin to a severe case of "the bends" -- the illness that can kill scuba divers who surface too quickly from deep water. The study supports what many scientists have long suspected: that the whales stranded on shore are only the most visible symptom of a problem affecting much larger numbers of marine life.

Other impacts, though more subtle, are no less serious. Marine mammals and many species of fish use sound to follow migratory routes, locate each other over great distances, find food and care for their young. Noise that undermines their ability to hear can threaten their ability to function and, over the long term, to survive. Naval sonar has been shown to alter the singing of humpback whales, an activity essential to the reproduction of this endangered species; to disrupt the feeding of orcas; and to cause porpoises and other species to leap from the water, or panic and flee. Over time, these effects could undermine the fitness of populations of animals, contributing to what prominent biologist Sylvia Earle has called "a death of a thousand cuts."

Reining in LFA Sonar

Since 1994, when NRDC began investigating rumors that sound experiments were taking place off the California coast, LFA (Low-frequency Active) sonar has been of particular concern because of the enormous distances traveled by its intense blasts of sound. During testing off the California coast, noise from a single LFA system was detected across the breadth of the North Pacific. By the Navy's own estimates, even 300 miles from the source these sonic waves can retain an intensity of 140 decibels -- still a hundred times more intense than the noise aversion threshold for gray whales. Many scientists believe that blanketing the oceans with such deafening sound could harm entire populations of whales, dolphins and fish.

NRDC's decade-long campaign to expose the dangers of active sonar won a major victory in August 2003, when a federal court ruled illegal the Navy's plan to deploy LFA sonar through 75 percent of the world's oceans. On the heels of this ruling, the Navy agreed to limit use of the system to a fraction of the area originally proposed, and that use of LFA sonar will be guided by negotiated geographical limits and seasonal exclusions. Conservationists believe this will protect critical habitat and whale migrations, and the Navy also retains the flexibility it needs for training exercises. None of the limits apply during war or heightened threat conditions. The pact demonstrates that current law can safeguard both the environment and national security.

But the ink was barely dry on the historic settlement when the Bush administration pushed legislation through Congress that exempts the U.S. military from core provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act -- leaving the armed forces much freer to harm whales, dolphins and other marine mammals in the course of using high-intensity sonar and underwater explosives. Exemptions in hand, the administration is now appealing the ruling limiting deployment of LFA sonar -- a hard-won court victory NRDC stands ready to defend.

Keep the Pressure On
NRDC's efforts to bring attention to the serious risks of active sonar have been aided immeasurably by the tens of thousands of messages our members and other activists have sent, insisting that active sonar not be used until the long-term safety of ocean wildlife can be assured.
Today, we are increasing pressure on the international community and the U.S. Navy to reduce the impact of active sonar on our oceans, before it's too late. As our campaign expands, we will need your help more than ever. Join NRDC's Earth Activist Network -- you'll receive a biweekly email alert highlighting urgent environmental issues needing your immediate help.