-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 05:12:13 +0000 From: shootdaguy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: !b_a_Act: StopLFAS WorldWIDE! To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi to the Bay Area Activisits! During the past week I've been contacting people & informing people about the decision by (NMFS) National Marine Fisheries Service during this last week, approving the US Navy's 5 year permit application to deploy SURTASS Low Frequency Active Sonar in 80% of the world's oceans. The article which follows will better inform all you about the sound blast technology which has harmed marine life; has injured recreational swimmers, and also is likely to become a legal challenge between our right to have a living planet with vital coastal areas or a seemingly blighted one with military objectives prevailing in the definition of what lies in Americas and the world's best interests. As coordinator of the Stop LFAS Worldwide Network, I've had a busy week just keeping track of the media spin-offs from this decision. It's doubtful that the decision by a bureaucracy will be the final determination of which course will be taken on this matter by our country, which still somewhat resembles a democracy. I would appreciate all of you better acquainting yourselves with the matter in the event that you or the organizations with which you are affiliated may be able to assist in helping people to understand that possible injuries to recreational swimmers, big whales and little fish which all swim in the same ocean is not a good thing. (If you're not familiar with the subject matter, the last statement for all of its over-simplification is not left wanting for accuracy.) Please know that the City of San Francisco did pass a resolution banning Low Frequency Active Sonar from the shores of San Francisco until such time as it can be proved safe. The resolution was modeled on one passed last year in Hilo, Hawaii. Please let people know that we applaud the decision by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the Committee on the Environment for doing such a great job of reminding us of what good governance is all about. All of us in the Bay Area now benefit by living in an LFAS-Free-Zone! Please encourage people in all communities to pass similar resoltutions. To see this resolution go to http://listen.to/lfas and follow the links. I also want to inform people here that Bay Area groups are trying to make a difference regarding this massive sound pollution. The StopLFAS WorldWIDE global headquarters is located in Santa Clara, California. (We're tiny so that's a pun.) The Earth Island Institute and an affiliate group called Sea Flow are located in San Francisco and Marin Counties. And the NRDC has local representation too! Please don't discount the efforts of local government and our Congresspeople and Senators. Too, an extraordinary effort has been made by the California Coastal Commission to protect our oceans against poorly guided federal policies. But we need some more help. Please direct your attentions to the information below and jump-in if your inclination is one of assistance. Thanks very much. Cheryl A. Magill StopLFAS WorldWIDE! >> San Mateo County Times Navy exempted from sonar limits Military permit overrides marine protection act By Laura Linden,STAFF WRITER Tuesday, July 16, 2002 - WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Navy got permission Monday to send out massive underwater sound blasts to hunt enemy submarines throughout the world's oceans, even though the sounds are louder than what whales and humans can tolerate at close range. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday that its fisheries division granted the Navy a permit that exempts it from the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The surveillance technology could harass and injure "negligible" numbers of whales, sea turtles and other marine mammals, but not kill them, NOAA officials said. With several restrictions, the five-year permit allows the Navy to deploy its Low Frequency Active Sonar -- technology updated from the Cold War -- off the coast of California and everywhere else. The announcement culminates a three-year permit application process during which officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) were flooded with some 10,000 letters concerning the Navy's proposal. Lt. Cmdr. Pauline Storum, a Navy spokesperson, said the Navy "remains committed to the environmentally responsible deployment" of the sonar technology "to balance the imperatives of military readiness and environmental conservation." Storum said the two agencies need to exchange some finalizing paperwork, but predicted NMFS will issue a permit to the Navy within 30 days. The Navy didn't say when its sonar activities would commence. The Navy has one sonar ship ready to use in the Pacific Ocean and is in the process of acquiring another for the Atlantic, NOAA officials said. At a press conference Monday, NOAA officials said the need for increased military surveillance will not harm populations of marine mammals. They said the Navy program has safeguards that ensure that no animals will die. Environmentalists who have been fighting the sonar project for years said Monday that they were not convinced. They claim the sonar will not only hurt whales, but seals, sea lions, sea turtles, dolphins and fish, explaining that hearing is central to the animals' survival. "We're outraged," said Mark Palmer, assistant director for the Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project, who predicts environmental organizations will sue the federal government. "It does not abide by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act." Off the West Coast, the Navy is prohibited from using the low frequency active sonar within 12 nautical miles of all coastlines, although the sound can enter the safety zone at levels up to 180 decibels. The sonar also cannot be deployed in NOAA's marine sanctuaries, such as the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, which extend much farther out to sea. According to the Navy's proposal, its sonar ships will tow a string of 18 bathtub-size speakers, called hydrophones, that emit great bursts of sound at 215 decibels, which critics equate to the sound of a rocket taking off. Those intense pulses travel vast distances and bounce off vessels and other objects, returning a signal read by a couple of hundred underwater microphones trailing off the back of the ship. The Navy contends the impact at 215 decibels is significantly less than that caused by 150 seismic survey vessels that now operate globally. According to NOAA, the active sonar technology "maximizes the opportunity for U.S. armed forces to safely react to, and defend against, potential submarine threats, while remaining a safe distance beyond a submarine's effective weapons range." On its Web site, the Navy says 21 countries operate potentially hostile submarines. While the Navy's plan calls for sonar blasts at 215 decibels, research conducted by the Navy has found that whales veer off their routes when they encounter sound at 120 decibels, an exponentially lower level. The animals can't tolerate anything above 180 decibels, whereas Navy divers can only handle up to 145 decibels, the Navy says. Roger Gentry, coordinator of NOAA's acoustics program, explained that invertebrates such as jellyfish have no sound reception capabilities and therefore are "completely unaffected" by the sonar. Conversely, he said the largest whales -- endangered blue and fin whales, as well as gray whales -- are "most susceptible to low frequency" sonar. Officials outlined several safety measures that the Navy will have to follow. The program calls for the Navy to visually monitor the sea, as well as use a separate sonar system that will detect marine mammals before they get within two kilometers (1.1 miles) of the ship. Whales and dolphins won't be harmed at half that distance, officials said. For several years, environmentalists have asserted that several strandings of whales around the world were suspiciously timed with nearby active sonar exercises. Government officials consistently denied a link until December 2000, when the Navy released a report admitting that mid-frequency active sonar blasts, deployed in the Bahamas in March 2000, led to the deaths of six whales. Scientists from the Navy and NOAA concluded the pressure from the sonar blasts pierced the mammal's ears and brains and caused them to hemorrhage. The Navy contends that low-frequency sonar is less harmful than mid-frequency, but environmentalists say more research is needed to be sure. Palmer said whale strandings in Greece and the Azores Islands off Portugal in the '90s suspiciously corresponded with low-frequency active sonar deployed by NATO. "The sound is much more intense than what they're claiming," Palmer said. "Basically, this is a device on the level of standing next to the Space Shuttle (during) take off." The program calls for the Navy to conduct more research on the effects of the sonar on marine mammals, including an inquiry into why the sonar has a "long-term silencing" effect on whale calls. NOAA officials said they will be receiving quarterly reports from the Navy about its sonar activities, but they will be classified. The location of the Navy's sonar ships will be classified, too, but officials stressed that whale strandings are already made public and will continue to be. NOAA officials added the agency has the right to revoke the permit if it decides the harm to animals is more than negligible. Michael Jasny, senior policy analysis with Natural Resources Defense Council, said despite the safety measures, the sonar program gives too much power and discretion to the Navy. "We're all left in the dark about where the Navy will be operating the system," Jasny said. "It's too geographically broad." << http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,87% 257E11268%257E733805,00.html StopLFAS WorldWIDE! Insist that people be told the truth about LFAS and other high intensity sonars. For additional updates go to this URL: http://listen.to/lfas Address: Stop LFAS Worldwide Network 1556 Halford Ave., Box 322 Santa Clara, CA 95051 (408) 516-9716 Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Stop LFAS Welcome Page: http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/stoplfas ------- End of forwarded message ------- ------------------------ "In little more than a year we have gone from enjoying peace and the most prosperous economy in our history, to a nation plunged into war, recession and fear. This is a nation being transformed before our very eyes." http://www.truthout.com Steve Wingate, Webmaster ANOMALOUS IMAGES AND UFO FILES http://www.anomalous-images.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
