Whales in Danger (Take Action. Video available)
Dear Mr. Delaplaine and members of the commission,
(Edit Letter Below)
I urge the coastal commission to reject the Navy's sonar application without the addition of specific, precautionary measures to protect whales and other marine life.
This is a crucial opportunity for the commission to ensure that the Navy takes common-sense measures to protect whales when it trains with mid-frequency sonar off California. As you know, whales around the world have been found dead or dying following encounters with mid-frequency military sonar, and the Navy itself has acknowledged the lethal impacts of this technology, which floods vast areas of the ocean with ear-splitting noise.
Although training like this has been conducted for decades, we are only now beginning to understand the serious impacts it is having on whales and other marine life around the world, and in our own backyard.
That's why the commission must reject the Navy's proposed training without assurances that all steps necessary will be taken to protect marine life. The commission should insist, for example, that the Navy stay out of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and other important whale habitat; that it power down its sonar during night-time exercises or in other conditions of low visibility; and that it enforce robust "safety zones" around sonar vessels to avoid exposing whales to harmful sound (above 154 decibels).
The commission has required these and other protective measures of the Navy in the past, and I urge it to stand strong and demand no less now.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]
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