Is sonar killing dolphins and whales?

[dennis in se pa]

I found an interesting article.

There was another article on cnn.com that mentioned the beachings were common. Common since when? Since we started using sonar?

Is this off the wall or valid?

Is Navy Sonar Killing Whales and Dolphins?: The Effects of Sonar on Cetacean Echolocation and Migration | Suite101.com

[genrex]

Look at the date of the article.... August 2009.

There were beachings in Washington State at that time, and people wanted to know what was going on, so the Seattle Times newspaper did an investigation. The Navy said they had just started testing a more-powerful sonar off the Washington State coast. I'm not sure what the Navy did after that, but there haven't been any more beachings here.

_

[Seahawk]

I have had a lot of experience in this area since I did a lot of anti submarine warfare.

The article was fair.

[dennis in se pa]

This has me wondering why the so called "reporters" note that the reason for the beachings is "unknown". I know the "reporters" are in the world of "unknown" when it comes to spelling and grammar, but this sonar link is easy to find.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

This has me wondering why the so called "reporters" note that the reason for the beachings is "unknown". I know the "reporters" are in the world of "unknown" when it comes to spelling and grammar, but this sonar link is easy to find.

Dennis,

I did a lot of flight test on sonar systems that are deployed from a helicopter, both expendables (sonobouys) and tethered systems, specifically the 13F dipping sonar and the Advanced Low Frequency Sonar (ALFS).

Compared to ship-mounted sonars and submarine-based sonars, the systems I tested were not very powerful: Remember, in active sonar systems, energy in the water is key.

We had to do exhaustive environmental impact work on the potential effect the energy in the water would have on fish and mammals.

I could go on and on, but I believe there is a connection...perhaps not in every instance, but I saw enough data, and we were restricted in certain frequencies, power and, most importantly duration in our tests to limit our impact.

This is a well studied area. The article was fair. Why whales breach and direct
correlation to sonar testing/exercises has not been proven.

I feel differently.

[crustychief]

Part of security measures in a foreign port was to keep the active sonar in standby in case of swimmer attack. I think it would beach a human. I agree with Seahawk the article is fair. We are no longer able to use / test our sonar in port because of environmental considerations.