Are sonar tests harming whales? The Supreme Court weighs in

Due to undersea sonar tests harming whales, the environmentalists of Washington recently sued the Pentagon over the Navy's annual training exercises. However, president Bush had successfully issued an emergency waiver to allow the Navy's training to proceed without the filing of an an environmental impact study; BUT the court ruling completely blocked the use of sonar in their training exercises. Although the risk of endangering whales exists, the military officials are against stopping the use of undersea sonar. Due to the fact that under water technology is needed to detect increasingly sophisticated enemy submarines during war. Even though sonar is very important for the Navy, the dozens of marine mammals being affected by it can cause them to be severely endangered or threatened. Studies have shown that high levels of underwater sonar can cause permanent hearing loss and disorientation of the marine animals. Even after the U.S Navy's attempt to turn down the sonar frequency when a whale comes within 1,000 meters, the sonar can still hurt the whales. The noise sounds like having a jet engine in the Supreme Court multiplied 2,000 times. In proof of this, a couple years ago 16 whales beached themselves in the Bahamas due to the high number of Navy sonar ships being operated underwater. Many people are against the Navy's use of undersea sonar and so the court is funding $16 million in independent research to minimize sonar's effect on marine mammals. Even after all of the feuding about this issue took place, the Navy is still arguing that the courts care more about protecting sea creatures rather than their people. Do you agree that undersea sonar should be stopped or do you think it should be continued? Although it could contribute to the readiness of the military during war, tons of sea life is being seriously harmed.