January, 29 2013, 02:48pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jessica Lass
310-434-2300
New Permit Would Allow Navy to Harm Millions of Marine Animals
More than 31 million instances of harm are anticipated
WASHINGTON
A proposed rule to be published in Thursday's Federal Register would permit the Navy to harm marine mammals in U.S. waters on more than 31 million separate instances between 2014-2019. The National Marine Fisheries Service authored the draft rule granting the Navy's request for authorization to harass, injure, and kill whales and dolphins as part of its testing and training exercises along the Atlantic coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and in waters off of Southern California and Hawaii. The estimated level of harm is 200% greater than previously requested permits to "take" marine mammals.
"We're talking about a staggering and unprecedented amount of harm to more than 40 species of marine mammals that should give any federal agency involved, be it the Navy or the National Marine Fisheries Service, pause," said Zak Smith, attorney with NRDC's marine mammal project. "NMFS has been charged by Congress to protect these mammals, not sanction their deaths. Giving the Navy the green light to harm marine mammals 31 million times is completely counter to NMFS mission and common sense."
A "take" refers to harm ranging from a significant behavioral impact, like habitat abandonment, to death. The proposed authorization to take whales and dolphins more than 31 million times during Navy exercises in 2014-2019, includes more than 5 million instances of temporary hearing loss; more than 13,000 instances of permanent hearing loss or other permanent injury; and nearly 350 deaths from Navy explosions, vessels that strike marine mammals, and sonar exercises. The Navy's Atlantic Fleet activities account for two-thirds of all injuries (nearly 22 million over 5 years) with Hawaii - Southern California activities accounting for a third of all injuries (about 9.5 million over 5 years).
Studies confirm that naval sonar has been known to cause a wide-range of debilitating problems for marine mammals. According to the New York Times, "Over the years, the Navy has been forced to acknowledge what science has clearly demonstrated: noise generated by sonar and underwater detonations can kill marine mammals, like whales and porpoises, and disturb their normal feeding, breeding and migration."
More than 550,000 people have signed a petition at Signon.org calling for an end to the killing and harassment of marine mammals by navy sonar. The proposed rules can be seen here and comments can be made until March 11, 2013.
NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.
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"These mass, illegal firings will not stop us," said organizers. "Make no mistake, we will continue organizing until the company drops Project Nimbus and stops powering this genocide."
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The firings came after Google organizers held two 10-hour sit-ins at the company's offices in Sunnyvale, California and New York City, demanding the termination of Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract under which Google and Amazon provide cloud infrastructure and data services for Israel—without any oversight regarding whether the Israel Defense Forces uses the services in its occupation of Palestinian territories and bombardment of Gaza.
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Google accused the workers of "bullying," "harassment," defacing property, and physically impeding other employees—allegations No Tech for Apartheid rejected as it noted organizers "have yet to hear from a single executive about" their concerns over Google's collaboration with Israel.
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Kate J. Sim, a child safety policy adviser at Google who said she was among those fired this week, said the terminations show "how terrified [executives] are of worker power."
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The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
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