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| remains after a propeller collision |
Critically endangered right whales
(E. glacialis) were being harrassed and killed at an
unsustainable rate by ship traffic off the busy northeastern coast. In 1997 NOAA developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take [Kill] Reduction Plan in response to 25 of 71 right whale deaths since 1970 caused by ship strikes. Sensible steps were taken such as rerouting traffic lanes and imposing speed limits to limit the number of collisions and avoid interference in breeding and feeding areas. But the Navy is once again threatening their survival by establishing an undersea training area [submarine warfare] adjacent to northern right whale calving grounds in the shallow waters off the Florida-Georgia border. Legal challenges by
NRDC and other environmental organizations to the project have so far been unsuccessful. Right whales
had a poor calving season last year with only six calves spotted, down from the customary twenty per year for the last decade. About 400 are estimated to survive off the America's east coast.
A similar threat exists to the world's largest mammal some of man's largest machines, container ships on the west coast. During the summer months blue whales
(Balaenoptera musculus) feed on krill that bloom in the waters off the busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The ancient feeding ground is today crisscrossed by ship traffic. The two thousand or so whales, despite their huge size, are rammed or sliced to pieces by propellers. Common sense protections, similar to what was done for the right whale in the northeast Atlantic, is being
held up by--wait for it--the United States Navy. Citing the usual prerogative of "national security", the Navy refuses to open the waters off Point Magu Naval Airstation to ship traffic during the migration season, thus allowing heavy ships to avoid the blue's feeding grounds. The Coast Guard has acknowledged the need to move traffic lanes. The Navy has been inconsistent with its interpretation of national security since it allows oil tankers to use the waters in question, but perhaps this position is actually consistent since it uses enormous amounts of fossil fuels to run its ships and planes.
US Person thinks its is time for the Navy to get over its
intractable egotism and live on the same planet as the rest of us Earthlings. Tell them blue whales have a right to survive too, by taking action at:
www.nrdc.org/savebluewhales.
