d a growing number of whale strandings and die-offs -- from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas to Japan -- have coincided with the military's use of these high- intensity sonar systems.

Please help put a stop to this senseless killing by going to http://www.savebiogems.org/watchlist/takeaction.asp?camp=31&step=2&item=52240 right now and sending the Secretary of the Navy a message urging him to take common-sense steps to protect whales.

Thanks to your strong support, we won a major victory for whales last year when a federal court blocked the Navy's global deployment of a different, long-range sonar system -- called LFA -- because its ear-splitting noise could threaten the very survival of endangered populations of whales. Now we are taking aim at the Navy's mid-frequency sonar, which is a much more widely used class of systems for detecting submarines.

Believe me, we understand and appreciate that the Navy's mission is defending our nation. But there are very simple ways for the Navy to protect whales that will not interfere with military readiness. Right now, the Navy is needlessly injuring and killing some of the ocean's most majestic creatures -- and that is simply unacceptable.

The International Whaling Commission recently declared that the evidence now appears "overwhelming" that military sonar is causing mass strandings of whales. And the scientific journal "Nature" reports that mid-frequency sonar can cause gas bubbles to form in the blood vessels of panicked whales, tearing holes in their internal organs. Such injuries no doubt cause intense pain.

I want to stress again that such suffering is avoidable -- if the Navy would only take simple measures like avoiding areas where whales are known to migrate and raise their young. But the Navy is unlikely to take such steps unless it hears an outcry from millions of Americans.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/watchlist/takeaction.asp?camp=31&step=2&item=52240 right away and send a message telling the Navy to stop needlessly harming and killing whales. Then forward this message to as many of your friends and family as possible and ask them to speak out, too.

Let's make sure that no more whales have to suffer and die from mid-frequency sonar. Sincerely, John H. Adams President Natural Resources Defense Council .

BioGems: Saving Endangered Wild Places A project of the Natural Resources Defense Council http://www.savebiogems.org

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