Magistrate Judge James Larson sided with conservationists from the Center for Biological Diversity Monday when he ordered an immediate end to the sound blasts, part of a $1.6 million foundation research project that began Sept. 19 and was scheduled to end Nov. 4. The project included using airguns to shoot sound through the sea floor to faults and study plate movement.
The center had asked the U.S. District Court in San Francisco last week to stop the research, saying two dead beaked whales found on the Mexican coast last month likely beached themselves because of the noise.
James Coda, assistant U.S. attorney for Northern California, said there is no evidence any marine mammal has died because of airguns anywhere in the world, and said the government may appeal.
Scientists from University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimate the airguns aboard the R/V Maurice Ewing research vessel can generate up to 263 decibels, said Brendan Cummings, counsel for the conservation center.
Larson noted that the U.S. Navy considers sounds above 180 decibels to be potentially harmful to marine mammals.
The Navy has been the target of environmentalists concerned that its sonar system used to identify enemy submarines endangers marine mammals. Some worry that intense sounds can deafen marine mammals, interfere with their communication systems, and even tear body tissues, and they point to the beaching of at least 16 whales and two dolphins after the Navy deployed the sonar near the Bahamas in 2000. Scientists found hemorrhaging around the brain and ear bones – injuries consistent with exposure to extremely loud sounds. Eight whales died.
Coda maintained the whales were too far away from the ship’s course to have been affected by the noise, and said he did not know if the airguns were being used at their maximum decibel capacity.
“There is really no evidence they established that shows these two whales beached themselves because of the research ship,” Coda said, adding the whales were decomposed and could not be examined for brain or tissue trauma.
The Gulf of California, wedged between the Baja California peninsula and mainland Mexico, is a breeding ground for myriad marine mammals.
Cummings also said the federal government failed to conduct an environmental review of the project, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Cummings said the judge’s ruling eventually may restrict U.S. vessels that use blasts of sound to search for oil beneath the ocean floor, saying the Marine Mammal Protection Act applies to all U.S.-owned vessels that conduct business in U.S. waters or carry U.S. researchers.
Coda countered that Congress hasn’t clarified whether U.S. vessels in foreign waters must comply with federal environmental requirements.
Fifteen beaked whales also beached themselves last month in Spain’s Canary Islands, where naval maneuvers were taking place. Jay Barlow, a National Marine Fisheries Service scientist in San Diego, said preliminary tests have linked that incident to underwater noise from the maneuvers. He said the whales, which emit sound to search for food, may have grown confused.
The case is Center for Biological Diversity v. National Science Foundation, C-02-5065.
Karen Gaudette, AP
