The Bush administration approved new Navy exercises using a powerful sonar system that causes whales to beach themselves because of inner-ear bleeding and disorientation. In order to approve the upcoming whale whacks, the National Marine Fisheries Service had to exempt the new sonar system from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, even though another Navy sonar system had already driven 16 whales to beach themselves in the Bahamas. Fisheries Service officials defended the decision by saying that, after an investigation, they had concluded that the whales were just trying to get attention.
December 14, 2002 6:02 AM
