The Navy Does it Again

As if killing marine life with sonar wasn’t enough, the US Navy now has plans to take out Manatees too.

I read an article today that is (obviously slanted in the way I lean) pointing out the incredibly destructive nature of the U.S. Navy along with how little it cares for any living creature but the American Human (and is shortsighted even in their care for them). Below is the entire article, originally appearing here.

“Having defeated the Japanese fleet and faced down the Soviets, the U.S. Navy faces a new obstacle, one that hides behind a deceptively gentle, seagrass-munching façade.

Manatees may rank lower than such traditional menaces as torpedoes and air-to-sea missiles. But a proposal to protect additional habitat for them, the Navy says, could end up reducing habitat for destroyers, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service soon will make a decision on whether to expand what's called critical habitat for the manatee in Florida and southern Georgia, in response to a petition from several environmental groups.

The coastlines of these states bristle with naval installations, such as the historic Pensacola Naval Air Station, where World War II aviators trained; Kings Bay in southern Georgia, home to nuclear-armed Ohio-class submarines; and the South Florida Ocean Testing Facility in Dania Beach, where the Navy operates an undersea range to determine ships' acoustical signatures.

Although the Navy doesn't object in principal to an increase in protected areas — and indeed points out the many measures it takes to prevent harm to endangered species — it says too broad an expansion could have "significant impacts" on Navy operations.

"Manatees and their habitats overlap Navy training and operation areas through the southeast," states the letter from C.R. Destafney, regional environmental program director, Navy Region Southeast, in Jacksonville. "Navy's training involves activities necessary to maintain proficiency in mission-essential areas such as mine warfare, strike warfare, electronic combat and maritime security."

Among the concerns: Security arrangements for Ohio-class submarines entering and exiting their base at Kings Bay. The Navy does not want protections for a marine mammal, no matter how loveable, to compromise security arrangements for submarines approaching shore armed with nuclear weapons.

Another concern is the Navy's ability to dredge channels for deep-draft ships .

Navy spokesman Steve Strickland said the Navy works hard to leave a minimal environmental footprint. For example, he said the Navy conducts aerial surveys of endangered right whales off North Florida to alert Navy ships.

"Certainly the Navy coexists with various endangered species," he said. "We do all kinds of things to help minimize the impact."

The habitat expansion proposal came in a 2008 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Save the Manatee Club and Wildlife Advocacy Project.

These groups argued that the current critical habitat, drawn up in 1976, is outdated. Since then, they said, a skyrocketing population has brought more boats and more waterfront development, worsening habitat for one of the state's best-loved endangered species, an emblem of Florida's natural heritage.

A critical habitat designation doesn't prohibit construction or other activities. But it does require the wildlife service to review federal activities or decisions that could affect it, such as permitting development, oil drilling, boating or shipping.

Katie Tripp, science and conservation director of The Save the Manatee Club, said there may be ways the Navy could alter operations to protect manatees without any impact on naval operations or training.

"In the past, manatees have not kept the Navy from doing what they need to do," she said. "In this state, endangered species and the military have coexisted."

The petition calls for the protection of dozens of natural springs, seagrass beds, travel corridors and coastlines throughout manatee habitat.

In Broward County, where no critical habitat is currently designated, that includes the entire Intracoastal Waterway, New River system, Whiskey Creek and many other waterways. In Palm Beach County, which already has critical habitat designated in Lake Worth and the northern part of the Intracoastal Waterway, it includes the entire Intracoastal Waterway and connected waterways.

In September the Fish and Wildlife Service made a preliminary determination that a revision of manatee critical habitat "may be warranted." It is now completing a more extensive review, with a decision expected within the next few days or weeks.

Rules to protect manatees have irritated boaters and the marine construction industry for years, and the proposal could face a fight if it moves forward.

Chuck Underwood, spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said any increase in critical habitat would almost certainly be a fraction of the habitat proposed by the wildlife groups.

He down-played the significance of expanding the species' critical habitat, saying any changes would simply reinforce protections already in place. Of the Navy's comments, he said, "We understand they have concerns, and they're legitimate concerns."’

Okay, so the navy is concerned because of: nuclear weapons, dredging the ocean floor for large ships, and possibly being unable to maintain readiness for warfare. Perhaps if ONE of their reasons was based upon anything but economics and the destruction of environments for warfare and corporate (governmental) greed I would be willing to listen. The navy keeps claiming they are environmental while they continue to destroy the environment (or refuse to let others protect it).

I Really Cannot Believe I Have To Do This

I was talking to a friend yesterday who was honestly convinced that the environment was better off now than in the past. I decided the best way to combat this strange, and untrue, assumption was with photos. I gathered all of these via Google Images (or referenced where I got them).

Above is an image of clear cutting in the Boreal Forest. Destruction continues to this day.

Above is an image of a whale beached and dead. It was killed by navy sonar use, which continues.

Whaling continues year after year even with depleted populations and a public outcry from many for it to stop.









Depleted Uranium Birth Defects (Above). "Also in 1999, a United Nations subcommission considered DU hazardous enough to call for an initiative banning its use worldwide. The initiative has remained in committee, blocked primarily by the United States, according to Karen Parker, a lawyer with the International Educational Development/Humanitarian Law Project, which has consultative status at the United Nations." See this article.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Space Trash. "It is estimated that hundreds of millions of pieces of space trash are now floating through our region of the solar system. Some of them are as large as trucks while others are smaller than a flake of paint. There are a couple of relatively famous pieces of space trash. One is the glove that floated away from the Gemini 4 crew during the first spacewalk by U.S. astronauts. The other is the camera Michael Collins lost during the Gemini 10 mission. Rocket boosters, pieces that came loose from spacecraft, and fragments and particles created by space collisions or explosions are other examples of the types of trash whizzing around Earth at speeds of up to 36,000 km per hour."

Oil Spills. Oil continues to be accidentally spilled into waterways around the world. With each spill environments are destroyed. Here are some links to more recent oil spills (there are obviously many more):
Pine River
Brazil
Queensland
West Cork, Ireland
Des Plaines River



Coffee Farming. This requires people to clearcut their land to create space to grow coffee, which in turn destroys the soil. (Picture from WWF article).
















Manatees. "The population of manatees in Florida (T. manatus) is thought to be between 1,000 and 3,000, yet population estimates are very difficult. The number of manatee deaths in Florida caused by humans has been increasing through the years, and now typically accounts for 20%-40% of recorded manatee deaths.^[10] There were 417 manatee deaths in Florida in 2006 with 101 attributed to human causes according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission."



I could go on and on, but this (The 15 most toxic places to live) article seems to sum it up pretty well.


-Amelie

Die Willy Die

I recently saw a commercial for the U.S. Navy that was promoting how environmentally friendly they were. I have searched for over an hour and can’t find the ad anywhere online. If you watch TV with any regularity however I’m sure you have seen it or will soon. (There’s a jogging woman talking about how great the Navy is). First of all, the only premise they seem to base this on is the use of nuclear power in their ships and submarines. Don’t even get me started on how bad that is. The waste product of nuclear power (spent fuel rods) remain toxic for thousands of years and we have yet to know what to do to detoxify them.

I am not so much here to talk about why nuclear power is horrible and no reason to call yourself green (yes, I’m talking to you US Navy) but here to talk about the other atrocity they have been a part of for years—killing marine life. I’m sure you all remember Keiko and your love for the character, Willy, he played in the box office hit Free Willy. Well, how would you feel about a bunch of dead Keikos? We all cheered as they freed him in the movie yet we sit passively by while whales and other marine life are killed for unnecessary training exercises.

Here’s a video about the danger to marine life from these loud noises (sonar) used by the Navy.

There was a temporary ban on these harmful uses of Sonar that were killing marine life, but that ban was lifted in November of 2008.

Here’s an excerpt from the article linked above:

“For the [environmentalists], the most serious possible injury would be harm to an unknown number of the marine mammals that they study and observe,” he wrote. “In contrast, forcing the Navy to deploy an inadequately trained antisubmarine force jeopardizes the safety of the fleet.”

In an important caveat, the chief justice added: “Military interests do not always trump other considerations, and we have not held that they do. In this case, however, the proper determination of where the public interest lies does not strike us as a close question.”

In a dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the court-ordered mitigation measures were “manageable” and justified. She said the Navy’s own assessments predicted “substantial and irreparable harm to marine mammals.”

So, I’m just wondering how exactly the U.S. Navy is so environmentally responsible?

Here are some more articles you should check out:
US Navy Admits Its Sonar Killed Whales

Whale Killed During Navy Sonar Exercises

Sonar from Navy likely killed whales in the Bahamas