Gov. Gary Locke is asking the Navy for a report on the USS Shoup’s use of sonar in Haro Strait last month, and he also wants details of what the Navy plans to do to prevent sonar from hurting marine mammals in Puget Sound.
The request, made by Locke in a letter Friday to acting Secretary of the Navy Hansford T. Johnson, comes just after Puget Sound’s orcas were officially listed as “depleted” under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The Shoup, an Everett-based destroyer and one of the Navy’s newest warships, used its mid-range tactical sonar for routine training when it traveled between Vancouver Island and San Juan Island on May 5.
Whale watchers and others in Haro Strait reported seeing whales and other marine mammals quickly flee the area while the Shoup was using its sonar, and 10 porpoises reportedly washed ashore dead in the following days.
Seven dead porpoises have since been recovered, and some have been taken to the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle for examination. Scientists will conduct necropsies on the porpoises in the coming weeks to try to determine why they died.
Navy officials declined to comment on Locke’s letter because they hadn’t seen it yet.
“We’re always working to be good stewards of the environment. We are interested in the environment, and anytime these things happen, we do look into them,” said Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, spokesman for the Secretary of the Navy.
In his letter, Locke said Navy sonar had been linked to an incident in the Bahamas where six whales beached and died.
“The actual or potential impact of sonar use on Puget Sound marine mammals is a concern,” Locke said in the letter.
He added that the listing of some of Puget Sound’s orcas as depleted “highlights the serious situation facing these local icons, suggesting that extraordinary care must be taken now to protect orcas while a longer-term conservation plan is developed.”
“We just wanted to begin a dialog with the Navy about what really happened out there, what their data shows and how we can avoid any harm to these mammals,” said Brad Ack, chairman of the Puget Sound Action Team.
The team, a governor’s office group with representatives from state agencies and local governments, develops conservation programs to protect and restore Puget Sound.
No orcas were found stranded after the Shoup used its sonar in Haro Strait. But the recent listing of the orcas underscored concern about the health of marine mammals in Puget Sound.
Because of the new designation, a conservation plan to restore the depleted stock of Eastern North Pacific southern orcas must be created by the end of next year.
“I think we all want to find ways to work together to minimize our impacts to these creatures so they can continue to grace these waters and share these waters with us,” Ack said.
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