Navy Admits Dolphin Beaching Followed Sub's Exercises

Eagle · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 11 Location: NJ

This news article seems to have additional confirmation of the excellent report from the Women's Chat posted on ew yesterday concerning beam devices used against dolphins.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=554358

Dolphin Beaching Followed Sub's Exercises
Navy Probes Whether Submarine Sonar Caused Beaching of Dolphins in Florida; Over 20 Have Died

KEY WEST, Fla. Mar 5, 2005 — The Navy and marine wildlife experts are investigating whether the beaching of dozens of dolphins in the Florida Keys followed the use of sonar by a submarine on a training exercise off the coast.
More than 20 rough-toothed dolphins have died since Wednesday's beaching by about 70 of the marine mammals, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary spokeswoman Cheva Heck said Saturday.
A day before the dolphins swam ashore, the USS Philadelphia had conducted exercises with Navy SEALs off Key West, about 45 miles from Marathon, where the dolphins became stranded.

Navy officials refused to say if the submarine, based at Groton, Conn., used its sonar during the exercise.
Some scientists surmise that loud bursts of sonar, which can be heard for miles in the water, may disorient or scare marine mammals, causing them to surface too quickly and suffer the equivalent of what divers know as the bends when sudden decompression forms nitrogen bubbles in tissue.
"This is absolutely high priority," said Lt. Cdr. Jensin Sommer, spokeswoman for Norfolk, Va.-based Naval Submarine Forces. "We are looking into this. We want to be good stewards of the environment, and any time there are strandings of marine mammals, we look into the operations and locations of any ships that might have been operating in that area."
Experts are conducting necropsies on the dead dolphins, looking for signs of trauma that could have been inflicted by loud noises.