DID YOU KNOW?
The Navy Is
Killing Pacifi c
Sea Otters With
Torpedoes
The U.S. Navy has killed, injured or harassed
marine mammals in the North Pacific almost 12
million times over a five-year period, according
to research conducted by the West Coast Action Alliance and
reported by Dahr Jamail for news website Truthout.
This includes whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions and
other marine wildlife, including endangered species like
humpback whales, blue whales, gray whales, sperm whales,
Steller sea lions and sea otters.
“ IT
IS WELL KNOWN IN THE
SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY THAT THE
NAVY ’ S USE OF SONAR CAN
DAMAGE AND KILL MARINE LIFE .”
As the Alliance noted, this does not include impacts on
“endangered and threatened seabirds, fi sh, sea turtles or ter-
restrial species” due to Navy activities, which have expanded
dramatically, according to the Navy’s October 2015 environ-
mental impact statement, including:
• A 778 percent increase in the number of
torpedoes fired
• A 400 percent increase in air-to-surface missile
exercises (including in the Olympic Coast National
Marine Sanctuary)
• A 1,150 percent increase in drone aircraft
• An increase from none to 284 sonar testing events in
inland waters
“It is, and has been for quite some time now, well known in
the scientific community that the Navy’s use of sonar can
damage and kill marine life,” Jamail reported.
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Willamette Week OCTOBER 11, 2017 wweek.com