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http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/26/1032734276307.html [Yet another reason to demand its abolition] NATO suspected after eight whales die September 27 2002 By Kenneth Weiss Los Angeles At least a dozen whales beached themselves in the Canary Islands off the coast of western Africa this week after a NATO exercise that involved warships and submarines. Eight of the whales died. Authorities are investigating whether the deaths were caused by powerful sonar. The government of the islands, which are a part of Spain, has asked NATO warships to suspend military manoeuvres in the area. Earlier this year a United States National Marine Fisheries Service study determined that sonar was to blame for the mass stranding of whales during US Navy exercises off the Bahamas in 2000. The study indicated that the navy's sonar system caused inner-ear bleeding, other injuries and disorientation that drove the whales to beach themselves. A US Navy spokeswoman said officials could not immediately determine if American warships were part of the multinational NATO exercise. Veterinary experts and whale researchers began autopsies on seven whales on Tuesday. An autopsy on an eighth whale, which washed ashore the following day, started on Wednesday night, said Teri Rowles, the coordinator of marine mammal-stranding response for the US National Marine Fisheries Service. Four whales were washed ashore alive on Tuesday and were pushed back to sea in the hope they would survive, Ms Rowles said. Because they were not tagged, she said, there was no way of knowing whether the animal that washed ashore on Wednesday was one of those pushed back out the day before. "We know that it was both males and females," Ms Rowles said of the beached mammals, "and most of the animals are juveniles." She and other US marine mammal experts have been advising Canary Island officials on what tissues should be preserved to determine the cause of death. Ms Rowles said at least seven whale heads had been removed and taken by refrigerated truck to be preserved at a veterinary school on Grand Canary Island. "It will probably be several weeks before we know the extent of injury and the potential causes of death," she said. She said Canary Islands officials appeared to have acted promptly and correctly in collecting and preserving tissues needed to determine if sonar, explosive blasts or disease were responsible for the deaths. The samples should contain the clues that the researchers needed, she said. - Los Angeles Times __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
