Posted on: Thursday, March 3, 2005

EDITORIAL
Can whales coexist with national security?

Throughout our history, we have faced circumstances where some part of our values or desires are trumped by national security concerns. Sometimes the choice is inevitable. In other cases, the tradeoff is less obvious.

Consider the choice being offered today between our legitimate concern over marine security and the lives and well-being of whales and other sea creatures.

While European allies and conservationists have become increasingly concerned about research indicating a link between mass strandings of whales and nearby naval use of sonar, recent reports say the Navy unilaterally reserves the right to unrestricted use of sonar to train sailors and protect ships.

The admirals say there's a new class of "quiet" diesel submarines that poses a threat to the country, especially in coastal waters. One of the best available methods of detecting these submarines is through high-powered sonar pulses.

Rarely mentioned is the fact there are other ways of keeping track of such submarines, such as surveillance of their surfacings and port calls.

There is no convincing argument that the Navy needs — not now, at any rate — an absolute right to switch on lethal levels of sonar at any time, any place.

At a minimum, the Navy should check for the presence of whales before training exercises. And there's no reason it can't cooperate with other countries in developing standards for sonar use.

Some environmentalists, recognizing — as do we — the Navy's need to detect silent-running submarines, propose such techniques as a gradual ramping up of the sound to allow whales to swim out of range before it peaks.

The Navy says it is committed to using active sonar in a way that minimizes risk to marine animals. That's encouraging and creates credibility.

But in asserting the right to switch this technology on at any time, under any circumstances, it erodes the very credibility it hopes to build.