Navy // Current

Damn the economy full speed ahead

Meet the Navy's latest $1.8 billion boondoggle, The San Antonio. A first of its class amphibious war ship that doesn't... more

eldamon
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Navy wins ruling over Sonar and Whales

The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted sanctions placed on the Navy over its underwater sonar testing, a setback for environmental... more

pshira
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Whales lose: US court says Navy can keep sonar dispite harm

The US Supreme Court Wednesday ruled the US Navy can continue to use long-range sonar in exercises off the California coast,... more

bansheewail
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Navy Wins, Whales Lose

The Supreme Court is lifting restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast, a defeat... more

breakthepower
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Court rules against whales lifting sonar restrictions

The Supreme Court is lifting restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast, a defeat... more

revolutioninamerica
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Indian Navy foils pirate attacks

An Indian warship on Tuesday foiled attempts by Somalian pirates to hijack two ships, including an Indian merchant vessel, in a... more

pshira
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Twenty die in Russian nuclear sub accident

Twenty people were killed on board a Russian nuclear submarine, the navy said on Sunday, in an accident that exposed the gap... more

dirtyemowords
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Vanity Fair Sues U.S. Navy For Concealed McCain's 1964 Fatal Car Crash Records.

Apparently presidential candidate, John McCain was involved in a car crash that claim the life of another person back in 1964.... more

keithponder
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Scientists dismayed by vanishing of 7 whales

Seven Puget Sound killer whales are missing and feared dead in what could be the biggest decline among the sound's orcas in... more

singrrr
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Come Home Soon: The Hardest Job in the Navy

Juliet Soukup is a 21-year-old Navy Wife, her husband Michael left for Iraq in March. He was deployed a month after they were... more

picture_this
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Generation War

5 years in Iraq. 7 in Afghanistan. Over 600 billion dollars spent. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have debated over battle... more

CJCollectiveWorks
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Iraq Vets attacked at last debate

IVAW members arrested while attempting to present questions to Obama and McCain One hour before the final presidential debate... more

leoniDb
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Blue Angels Practice (photos)

Photographs of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels practicing their maneuvers over San Francisco, CA on Friday, October 10, 2008.

ebindelglass
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Whales vs The US Navy

"Supreme Court justices voiced skepticism Wednesday about a federal judge's limits on naval sonar exercises off Southern... more

DeliaTheArtist
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Supreme Court hears case--- Whales vs National Security...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices appeared closely split Wednesday on whether environmental laws can be used to... more

arcticspirit
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U.S. Navy Sonar Linked To Whale Strandings, Environmental Scientists Argue

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a series of lower court rulings that restrict the Navy's use of sonar in submarine detection training exercises off the coast of Southern California. The court is due to hear the case after its term begins again this month.

For many years, professor Chris Parsons has been tracking the patterns of mass whale strandings around the world. In his most recent paper, "Navy Sonar and Cetaceans: Just how much does the gun need to smoke before we act?" Parsons and his co-authors bring together all of the major whale and dolphin strandings in the past eight years and discuss the different kinds of species that have been affected worldwide. They also strongly argue for stricter environmental policies related to this issue.

"Generally, if there is a large whale stranding, there is a military exercise in the area," says Parsons. "Sonar is killing more whales than we know about."

Parsons is a national delegate for the International Whaling Commission’s scientific and conservation committees, and on the board of directors of the marine section of the Society for Conservation Biology. He has been involved in whale and dolphin research for more than a decade and has conducted projects in South Africa, India, China and the Caribbean as well as the United Kingdom.

Though Parsons believes that there is a good chance the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of the Navy, he thinks there is a chance for a win-win situation on both sides.

"If the Navy uses proper mitigation efforts, it can still perform its exercises and affect less of the whale population," he says. However, he argues they need to avoid sensitive areas completely, and have trained, experienced whale experts as lookouts when performing these exercises—"not just someone who has watched a 45-minute DVD, which is sadly the only training most naval lookouts get with respect to finding and detecting whales."

Even with all these efforts, however, Parsons worries that sonar is affecting many more whales than we even know about. "Eventually the Navy may have to reconsider the use of certain types of sonar all together. They could be wiping out entire populations of whales, and seriously depleting others."Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a series of lower court rulings that restrict the Navy's use of... more