FREE-LANCE INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: 'ON THE BRINK' CETACEANS and the OCEANS

 CETACEANS ARE WEAPONS AND TARGETS

 NAVAL SONARS = MAJOR THREAT

 TRANSDUCERS SIMILAR 
FOR LFA-SONAR and SEISMIC TESTING

 ONE BLAST CAN CREATE 
A 'KILL ZONE THE SIZE OF TEXAS'

 "SOME OF US HAVE BEEN TRAUMATICALLY BRAIN-WASHED...
PLEASE DON'T LET THIS RUIN OUR 
"FRIENDSHIP FOR NO ADVANTAGE' REPUTATION"

 NEW ZEALAND LEADS THE WORLD 
IN CETACEAN STRANDINGS AND FATALITIES

 CACHELOT:  MOST ADVANCED BRAIN ON EARTH

 COASTAL WAR-ZONES for CETACEANS

 'LIVE SIMPLY SO THAT OTHERS MAY SIMPLY LIVE'

 REGIONS OF EXTREME DANGER FOR CETACEANS:
EASTERN SEA-BOARD OPEN TO SEISMIC TESTING

 HIGH-DENSITY of MARINE TRAFFIC:  ALL COASTS 
OF POPULATED REGIONS WOULD BE SIMILAR

 U.S. NAVY HAS A 'PERMIT' TO 'TAKE' 
11.5 MILLION MARINE MAMMALS

 'CETACEAN RAINBOW CONVERGENCE'

 A BREACH OF GRAVITY!

 ALL SONAR IS 'ACTIVE'

 NW PERU: MAJOR ABIOGENIC PETOLEUM ZONE = 
MASS_GENOCIDE OF LOCAL CETACEAN POPULATIONS

 SYNTHETIC RADIO-NUCLIDE CONTAMINATION FROM FUKUSHIMA: 
 AN ON-GOING PROCESS OF PLANETARY ECOCIDE

 HYDRO-CARBON/COREXIT CONTAMINATION FROM BP-MACONDO =
AN ON-GOING PROCESS OF PLANETARY ECOCIDE

 ONE SEISMIC TESTING BLAST EXCEED 
30,000 JOULES OF EXPLOSIVE POWER

 NEW ZEALAND IS THE 'NEW TAIJI'
 DUE TO HIGH CETACEAN POPULATION DENSITY and
UNLEASHING OF "BIG OIL" EXTRACTION OPERATIONS

SITE OF RECENT SPERM WHALE STRANDING

 HOW MANY MORE OF OUR VERY BEST FRIENDS MUST DIE...

 ...AS SACRIFICES TO OUR MOLOCHS OF MONEY, GREED and OIL?

 "IF WE DIG PRECIOUS THINGS FROM THE LAND...

 ...WE WILL INVITE DISASTER"  HOPI PROPHECY

STRANDINGS CORRELATE with SEISMIC TESTING GLOBALLY

 OFF-SHORE EXPLORATION and DRILLING 
DISRUPTS WHALE MIGRATION ROUTES

THIS NIGHTMARE SCENARIO IS TRULY GLOBAL 

 "WHY ARE YOU, WHO CALL YOURSELVES 'MAN, THE WISE',
 KILLING US AS WELL AS YOURSELVES AND OUR PLANET?"

THE ULTIMATE CREATIVE CETACEAN PARTNERSHIP

THE ULTIMATE TECHNOLOGY:  
BIRTH-RIGHT of HUMANS and CETACEANS.
HUMANS CURRENTLY RUNNING ON DYSFUNCTIONAL 'dMOE', 
or 'DISTRIBUTED MENTAL OPERATING ENVIRONMENT'


'ON THE BRINK' RADIO SHOW
WHALES AND DOLPHINS PART 3
https://soundcloud.com/user374691641/on-the-brink-show-8-whales-and

Whales and dolphins are stranding and dying at alarming levels all around the planet, but New Zealand is the ‘new Taiji’ because of the huge number of these cetacean fatalities. Almost without exception, every stranding event in recent years correlates with seismic testing and/or military ‘hazardous operations’ in the vicinity at the same time, yet this obvious connection goes unmentioned by the media, government and scientific agencies, and almost all ‘environmental’ groups. The cetaceans ARE a true ‘extra-terrestrial intelligence’ and we ARE waging war on them. 

Wade Carson, Canadian marine biologist and founder of the brilliant site StrandedNoMore, points out that the whale and dolphin 'rescue' operations there are the worst in the world, with a 'success' rate of only 9%. Further, necropsies that could determine the actual cause of death are never carried out on the dead cetaceans. The reason given is that the Maori object to this on 'spiritual' grounds;  but they are allowed to hack off jaw-bones and take whatever they want. Maori 'traditional owners' and council, moreover, are among the most corrupt politicians in Aotearoa and are heavily involved in facilitating all forms of energy and resource extraction which are exploding throughout New Zealand's huge 'eez' or 'exclusive economic zone', the fifth largest in the world. Denial of necropsy is a sure way to protect 'big oil'.

The most recent of many dozens of such events occured just this week when a sperm whale stranded on the north island, in the vicinity of not one but two seismic testing operations. This tells the whole story, one that we have seen repeatedly in recent years.

SPERM WHALE STRANDS IN NZ
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10859738

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/kapiti-observer/8183040/Whale-on-Paraparaumu-Beach

Parody of interview with oil company pr person
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W77IqQW9xzU 

Mainstream, i.e., 'navy or big oil-funded' scientists are quick to point out that cetacean strandings have been known to occur since the days of the ancient Greeks, and of course any 'reality' is far more complex than even the most dedicated scientific pursuit can comprehend.  When strandings or unusual deaths occur, the trend these days is to conjure up any possible explanation, for example, that the whale died from 'old age' or a 'mystery illness' or got 'lost'.  

These things do happen, of course, but we KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that seismic testing and naval sonars emit shock-waves of sound that are powerful enough to kill or maim thousands of cetaceans with one blast.  LFA-sonar is reputed to have 'a kill zone the size of Texas.'  Hundreds of seismic testing vessels are in operation at any given time around the planet, and hundreds if not thousands of military vessels from the world's navies are deployed everywhere, on the surface and in the depths, on routine missions, engaging in 'war games', weapons testing maneuvers, disposing of 'ordnance' and radioactive waste, and 'fighting the enemy.'  All this is on top of the massive amounts of noise from shipping and recreational vessels.

Almost every marine vessel of any size has one or more forms of sonar these days. Sonar ('sonic navigation and ranging') is not a passive listening system, but active in the sense that it emits pulses or blasts of sounds ('ping' is hardly appropriate for a 30,000 joule blast) that are detected upon reflection back to the source.  It's impossible to imagine the density of sonar interference that exists in areas with a lot of marine vessel activity.  Even if the sound levels aren't powerful enough to cause physical injury, cetaceans have extremely acute hearing and are bound to be disturbed or annoyed at the constant anthropogenic noise spectrum that is probably very difficult if not impossible to get away from.

'WEATHER CHANNEL' FOR REAL GLOBAL THREATS

Here in Tasmania I have recently contacted the Threatened Species and Marine group of the Department of Primary Industries, reckoned by Wade Carson to be one of the best cetacean rescue groups in the world.  I already talked with Kris Carlyon who related that the last major stranding event was on King Island a few months ago, and that the cause was 'a mystery.' I asked him if he were aware that the Australian navy had been conducting tests of new torpedo technologies at that exact time off of Adelaide, which isn't that far from King Island.  He was aware of this, and was not reluctant to talk about military-industrial activity as a cause of strandings. Hopefully I will be doing a full interview with him and other team members in the next couple weeks in which I am going to find out exactly where they are coming from with all this.

http://www.naval-technology.com/news/newsrans-hobart-class-awd-demonstrates-torpedo-launcher-capability

I am going to suggest that if they want to go to the next level with what they are supposed to be about, that is, protecting the lives of marine mammals, and not just sit there like ambulance drivers waiting for strandings to happen, that they create what I call a 'weather channel' for real-time surveillance of all human marine activity in Tasmanian waters, including seismic testing and geophysical exploration activity, military presence or activity of any kind, all other industrial activity including fishing boats, trawlers, shipping, cruise ships, and recreational vessels.  All of these use various kinds of sonar, all of these create physical disturbances, noise, and their presence is a threat to any marine life.  Seismic testing vessels and military sonars generate shock-waves that can kill or injure hundreds of thousands of cetaceans at once...more than the Japanese whaling fleet would kill in an entire season unfettered by Capt. Paul Watson's band of made-for-tv pseudo-activists.

The technology for such a 'weather channel' is readily available; pretty much anyone with sufficient access to the marine data bases could assemble such an 'intelligence apparatus.'  Access to classified information such as nuclear submarine deployment could be tricky, but is not impossible for a government agency with the will to do this.

With such a system in operation, we could constantly observe the relative positions of all marine vessels, pay attention to the density of activity in any given area, note any correlations between conspicuous presences and elevated densities with strandings or anomalous cetacean behaviours, and possibly begin to predict when these types of events might occur.

One of the main problems is that when a seismic blast maims or kills hundreds or thousands of cetaceans (as off the coast of Peru a few months ago), the vast majority of the dead or injured cetaceans do not end up on shore but sink and decompose in the ocean.  Wade Carson estimates that for events of this nature, as few as 10% of all the injured cetaceans end up on shore.

And the biggest obstacle with a program like the 'cetacean weather channel' is that it's creation would be a de facto admission of the dangers posed by human marine military-industrial activity, indeed, by marine activity of any kind.

The pervasive and tenticular influence of 'big oil' and the 'war on terror' mind-set glorifying the high-tech 'big stick' approach to global imperialism would surely try to abort such a project before it could become fully operational, particularly here in Australia, a country that is run by mining companies and qualifies as both a British colony and the 51st state of Amerika the obama-nation.

Last week I 'unfriended' Australian Minister of the Environment Tony Burke on Facebook for making ridiculous Orwellian proclamations. For example, he said that 'If every country acted like Japan, we wouldn't have any whales left." I replied, "If every country acted like Australia, we'd all have been extinct a long time ago.'  Then he said that 'Australia is the world-leader in protecting the oceans.'  I replied that if allowing the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Park to be dredged near Gladstone to clear the way for super-tankers going to six new gas hubs, allowing a major humpback whale nursery to be dredged near James Price Point in the Kimberley, allowing off-shore exploration and deep-water drilling for hydrocarbons near Ningaloo Reef in WA, off of Kangaroo Island, and who knows where all else, not to mention allowing new uranium mines in WA and open-cut mining for iron compounds in the remote Tarkine region of western Tasmania...if all this is 'protecting the ocean' and the environment, well, Tony, that's really no different than your ancestors declaring that 'Australia' was 'terra nullius' when they first set their necrophilous feet here 150 years ago. 'Terra nullius' means 'land of nothing' or 'land of no people' and was the British invaders' justification for mass-murdering all the 'sub-human' creatures who had lived so peacefully in the dream-time for a hundred thousand years.

The cetaceans are the 'ultimate indigenous people' and our very pro-active genocidal war on them, and on all indigenous peoples around the world, and the Earth herself, is extremely bad karma for beings professing to be homo sapiens, 'man, the wise.'

Sonic waves may have killed 40 whales, say scientists

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Sonic-waves-may-have-killed-40-whales-say-scientists/Article1-989794.aspx#.UPRyVnWczhw.facebook

http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/navy-funded-scientist-argues-noise-is-not-a-big-deal-what-else-is-new/ 



http://enenews.com/more-311-footage-released-we-have-confirmed-a-worst-situation-water-containing-extremely-high-levels-of-radiation-are-flowing-into-the-sea-video

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/641/033/930/save-the-largest-humpback-whale-nursery-stop-the-gas-hub-in-james-price-point-western-australia/?cid=FB_TAF

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/7972447/Spate-of-whale-strandings-continues

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/10/25/whales-deaf-air-gun-environment/1642207/

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/11/04/365299_most-popular-stories.html

http://elephantseals.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/cousteau-on-seismic-testing.html

http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/press-releases/statement-diablo-canyon-seismic-testing-too-much-risk

http://themarinedetective.com/2012/11/10/tidal-turbines-in-whale-epicentre-hell-no/


http://enenews.com/newspaper-new-oil-spotted-by-bp-disaster-site-in-gulf-pilot-concern-its-from-new-cracks-caused-by-deepwater-horizon-explosion-photos

http://enenews.com/abc-15-people-may-be-missing-from-platform-oil-sheen-has-spread-over-more-than-a-2-mile-area-on-the-water-video

http://enenews.com/continuing-radioactive-leaks-from-fukushima-there-must-be-a-source-says-researcher-300000000000-becquerels-estimated-into-pacific-each-month

http://enenews.com/tv-more-oil-reported-at-bp-disaster-site-persistent-and-recurring-sheen-video

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50032789/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/dispersant-makes-oil-spills-times-more-toxic/

STOP CETACEAN GENOCIDE by NAVY & 'BIG OIL': SELL YOUR CAR, CREATE AWARENESS and GET ACTIVE

 ANOMALOUS STRANDINGS ARE INCREASING GLOBALLY

 CETACEANS LIVE IN A WORLD OF SOUND

 LFA CAN CREATE A 'KILL ZONE THE SIZE OF TEXAS'

 "I JUST NUKED A WHOLE POD OF DOLPHINS...50 POINTS!"

 LFA SONAR AND SEISMIC TESTING USE IDENTICAL TECHNOLOGIES

 NAVAL 'PLAYGROUND' OFF COASTAL USA

 THIS IS HOW WE ARE WAGING WAR ON CETACEANS

 THE FUTURE OF MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL CIVILIZATION

 MEANWHILE WE ARE KILLING OUR BEST FRIENDS ON THE PLANET

"We strongly believe that if the Navy will be allowed to proceed with its plans it will result in catastrophic consequences for marine life off both coasts: East Coast and West Coast."

NOTE FROM JEFF:  This posting is a last-minute effort to elicit some comments from anyone out there who is concerned about the global situation with our friends and family in the seas, the whales and dolphins. In another day or two the window closes for the branch of the NOAA who supposedly 'oversees' the environmental activities of the U.S. Navy to hear comments from the public concerning 'permits' to be granted to the Navy to 'take' millions of marine mammals, legally and with impunity. 'Take' means 'kill' in no uncertain terms.  It's really no more than a ludicrous 'dog and pony show' because, according to StrandedNoMore (with whom I am in close touch and who I regard as being THE top source of reality-based cetacean threat information), the NOAA has NEVER refused a permit request to the Navy. Why? Because the Navy owns and operates the NOAA.  This is only one of many inter-related stories that desperately need to be told. 

In a few days I will be posting a major 'free lance intelligence update' with a big section on the oceans and cetaceans.  A LOT is going on, and most of it is not good, but some meager progress IS being made in terms of getting the dangers posed to cetaceans by seismic testing for hydro-carbons on to the public radar. Recently oceanographic luminary Jean-Michel Cousteau came out with a statement against seismic testing.  The bigger picture, however, is that even naval sonar and seismic testing aren't the real problem, just as the existence of the military-industrial complex isn't the real problem...the REAL problem is that ALL of these things are being done by human beings. If we really wanted to we could choose to STOP DOING all these destructive things.  The real mystery, the question of the ages is, 'So why don't we?"  Why indeed?

PLEASE take the time to assimilate the information below, and PLEASE take the time to send an email or 100 to the NOAA and make them aware that we're onto their scam and might do more than sign petitions!  Of particular note is the post from StrandedNoMore...you can friend them on Facebook, too.

Here is a comprehensive article I wrote that is in the current issue of Uncensored magazine:

"We Are Not Alone...Yet:  How We Are Waging War on a True 'Extra-terrestrial Intelligence' "

http://tutunui-wananga.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/we-are-not-aloneyet-how-we-are-waging.html

And here is the trailer to the 'beyond film' that we're working on, based on the article above:

'AIHE TOHORA PAIKEA WANANGA' (The Knowledge and Wisdom of Whales and Dolphins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNFoL24pK3c

MY EMAIL OF TODAY TO MR. PAYNE OF NOAA:

Dear Mr. Payne, I strongly and urgently insist that you do everything in your power to stop this entire charade of the Navy requesting...and always being granted...'permits' to 'take' marine mammals. We all know that the Navy owns and operates the NOAA as well as the NMFS; we all know that 'take' means 'kill.'  Why does the Navy even bother with this whole process...it's going to do whatever it wants to do anyway?

In the same way that gradual progress is being made to create public awareness about the extreme dangers of seismic testing to the health and well-being of marine mammals, gradual progress is also being made in creating public awareness about the fact that the U.S. Navy is THE single greatest threat to the health and well-being of all marine life on this planet. Public awareness of the fact that you and the NOAA actually work for the Navy, as do over 90% of all 'marine biology' researchers, is growing little by little.

The fact that the entire 'war on terror' is really just a cover for imperial mobilization, and that the Navy basically works for 'big oil' is also becoming increasingly well-known.

Even high-visibility mainstream 'environmental activists' like Jean-Michel Cousteau are beginning to speak out against seismic testing.  Below you will find the text of a recent statement he made.  If you substitute 'active sonar' for 'seismic testing' you have exactly the same scenario.

To preserve your own dignity and integrity as a human being, as well as to lighten the increasingly negative karma you are accumulating from being a part of this extremely destructive charade, I recommend that you 1) do your best do deny this and any future permits  2) do your best to eliminate this entire fraudulent process and 3) get another job that is honest and that helps to nurture life on our planet, not destroy her.

Ours is the only planet we know who has life.
CETACEANS NOT MUTATIONS
JEFF PHILLIPS


NEW SITE TO CREATE AWARENES OF THREATS TO CETACEANS


http://www.whaleanddolphinwatch.com/

Rosalind Peterson LIVE Report: US NAVY Massacre 11.7 Million Marine Mammals at stake!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIx96ElDO50

ROSALIND PETERSON'S MAIN SITE


http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/content/us-navy
 
http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonarvideo/video.asp

http://oceana.org/en/news-media/press-center/press-releases/oceana-and-nrdc-to-conduct-mock-seismic-airgun-test-outside-department-of-the-interior-bu

'Sounds of the Sea' Excellent doco about naval sonar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZv--KvvN2Q

To watch 'Sounds' in entirety and another doco on seismic testing:

http://anthro-media.com/projects/nature/01.html

http://anthro-media.com/projects/nature/06.html




STATEMENT FROM JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU

http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/press-releases/statement-diablo-canyon-seismic-testing-too-much-risk

AND HERE IS A SIMILAR STATEMENT FROM ANDREW SHARPLESS, CEO OF OCEANA

'A deaf whale is a dead whale'

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2012/10/25/whales-deaf-air-gun-environment/1642207/

MESSAGE FROM STRANDEDNOMORE:

Info on BOEM permit for 'big oil' to do seismic testing in Atlantic

http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/the-us-east-coast-can-kiss-its-marine-life-goodbye/

Our Comments on the Insane US Navy’s Applications That Will Result in Catastrophic Impact on Marine Life

http://strandednomore.wordpress.com/2012/11/03/our-comments-on-the-insane-us-navys-applications-that-will-result-in-catastrophic-impact-on-marine-life/

November 5, 2012 is a deadline for public comments on 3 permits that are currently being considered by NOAA. We strongly believe that if the Navy will be allowed to proceed with its plans it will result in catastrophic consequences for marine life off both coasts: East Coast and West Coast. Below are our comments that will be submitted in regard to these applications. Please feel free to use any information, data and references below for your own comments and please consider commenting, it is VERY IMPORTANT.

Some information about applications and permits. Currently, NOAA has 3 applications from the Navy and you will need to comment on each of them (link). Two applications are about testing range off the East Coast and one is about testing range in Hawaii/California. The permit applications are huge and very hard to read, for that reason you can use some of our points but also consider to add you own points if you would like. These permit applications are always written in utmost unreadable and convoluted way possible.

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/10/04/2012-24538/takes-of-marine-mammals-incidental-to-specified-activities-us-navy-training-and-testing-activities#addresses

Application #1. 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT). The application itself is here (link). The info about commenting is here (link). If you are going to comment on this application please email your comments to:

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.

email: ITP.Hopper@noaa.gov

Subject: 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT)

Application #2. 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT). The application itself is here and it appears to be similar in at elast some way to the Application #1 (link). The info about commenting is here (link)

If you are going to comment of this application please email your comments to:

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.

email: ITP.Hopper@noaa.gov

Subject: 2012 U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing Activities (AFTT)

Application #3. 2012 U.S. Navy Hawaii Southern California Training and Testing Activities (HSTT). The application itself is here (link). The info about commenting is here (link)

If you are going to comment of this application please email your comments to:

Michael Payne, Chief, Permits and Conservation Division, Office of Protected Resources, National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225.

email: ITP.Magliocca@noaa.gov

Subject: 2012 U.S. Navy Hawaii Southern California Training and Testing Activities (HSTT)

Here is our comment, feel free to use it!

To:

P. Michael Payne,

Chief, Permits and Conservation Division,

Office of Protected Resources,

National Marine Fisheries Service,

1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

November 4, 2012

From: StrandedNoMore

Dear Mr. Payne,

There are currently 3 permits being considered by NOAA that will give the US Navy unprecedented ability to cause catastrophic level extinction event for marine life on both coasts: the East Cost and the West Coast.

With every passing day we have more and more reports on stranded whales and dolphins and the majority of these events have anthropogenic causes regardless of what the Navy wants the public to believe. We urge you to deny permits for all 3 applications based on two main premises:

a) The Navy greatly underestimates the impact of its activities

b) The Navy uses complete chaos in the stranding response  field both in the US and worldwide to hide the true extent of damage their activities result in.

Here are some specific points we would like to make in regard to above premises.

1. The Navy greatly underestimates the impact of its activities

1.1. None of the applications cites crucial recent studies and such omission of scientific data allows the Navy greatly underestimate the true impact of their activities.

1.2. For example the section “6.1.1.3.4 Physiological Stress” completely omits an important study by Lyamin et al. published in 2011 that indicated that beluga whale started showing extremely troubling physiological response at significantly lower levels: “Our data indicate that severe tachycardia developed in the beluga at lower noise intensities (as low as 140 dB); at higher intensities, the HR could reach a twofold excess over the control values and last for no less than 4 min” (p. 278). This study was not even mentioned in current applications.

1.3. The section “6.1.1.4 Behavioral Responses ” completely omits information on behavioral triggers for mass strandings and the fact that strandings could indeed be a behavioral response to anthropogenic sounds, not just sonar but also missiles, rockets, explosives and even aircraft noise. Several studies are not mentioned in this regard, specifically 2 applications do not mention the well-documented case of nearstarnding of melon-headed whales in Hawaii (possibly caused by military sonar) which most likely was a behavioral response to anthropogenic noise (Brownell et al., 2009). Additionally very important review on how cetaceans have been historically hunted with sound and have been demonstrating strong avoidance of sounds that has a potential to lead to a stranding event (Brownell et al., 2008) has not been mentioned as well. There is also no discussion of how anthropogenic sound can act as an acoustic barrier (link)

1.4. The section “6.1.2.1.4 Bubble Formation” does not include very important recent study by De Quirós et al (2012) that demonstrated that decompression related bubbles can indeed be distinguished from decomposition bubbles.

1.5. The section “6.1.2.7 Stranding” does not include any discussion about possibility that  mass stranding could be purely behavioral response and how in that case no evident pathology will be present apart from stranding related issues.

1.6. In the same section where it is said that “ In comparison to potential strandings or injury resulting from events associated with Navy activities, marine mammal strandings and injury from commercial vessel ship strike, impacts from urban pollution, and annual fishery‐related bycatch have been estimated to be orders of magnitude greater” (p. 146). This is misleading statement because no one knows how many marine mammals perish at sea as a result of Navy activities never to be seen again or counted. For example the experimental study that did controlled carcasses release offshore found that only 8% of experimentally released carcasses made it to shore. The model that was made based on data predicted that that only carcasses that have positive buoyancy will drift and wash ashore. The carcasses with negative buoyancy will sink and decompose. (Peltier et al., 2012)

1.7. The applications do not mention many past and recent mass strandings worldwide that have been linked to Navy activities, including Cornwall mass strandings (link), unusual mortality event in Cape Cod, MA in January 2012 coincided with Navy activities (link), mass strandings in Florida, Cape Verde (link) and New Zealand (link) that all were associated closely in time and space with “hazardous operations” done by the military.

1.8. The applications do not mention pervasive conflict of interests resulting from the Navy using studies done by scientists that have been funded by the Navy (Weilgart et al., 2005; Wade et al., 2010)

1.9. The applications do not mention very important recent study showing severe disturbance at very low sound levels. Study by Miller et al., 2011 indicated that killer whales stopped feeding at playback of sonar sounds of 93 dB re: 1µPa and whales started to show the avoidance at 98 dB re: 1µPa.

2. The Navy uses complete chaos in the stranding response  field both in the US and worldwide to hide what their activities truly result in.

2.1. Stranding field is chronically underfunded and understaffed and for that reason many strandings go down either without detailed investigation or with only some marginal investigation such as tissue sampling for example.

2.2. Information about exact locations and types of Navy activities is obscure and hard to find and stranding response team rarely request such information.

2.3. Some testing is time sensitive (such as decompression sickness related embolism) and often cannot be done in timely manner due to lack of resources and trained personnel.

2.4. All  of the abovefactors result in situation where it is impossible to connect Navy activities to strandings not because such connections are absent, but because there are no resources or personnel to establish such connections.

2.5. All of the above also indicates that the Navy and by extension NOAA/NMFS greatly underestimate the effects of Navy activities on marine mammals.

Finally, there is another serious issue that has not been mentioned in the applications. Specifically, the same area off the Atlantic cost will also be open to seismic surveys exploration (link). Navy’s application does not contain any assessment what cumulative effects such activities will have on marine mammals that sadly will get double exposure to the strongest anthropogenic sound sources at the same time.

We urge you to reconsider giving the Navy permits because it will have detrimental if not completely catastrophic impact on marine life off East and West Coasts.

Sincerely,

StrandedNoMore

References:

Bernaldo De Quirós, Y., González-Diaz, O., Arbelo, M., Sierra, E., Sacchini, S., and Fernández, A. (2012). Decompression vs. Decomposition: Distribution, Amount, and Gas Composition of Bubbles in Stranded Marine Mammals. Frontiers in Physiology 3.

Brownell, R. L. et al., (2009), Behavior of melon-headed whales, Peponocephala electra, near oceanic islands, Marine Mammal Science, 25(3), 639-658. Available at http://cetus.ucsd.edu/Publications/Publications/BrownellMMS2009.pdf

Brownell, R.L. et al., (2008), Hunting cetaceans with sound: a worldwide review, J. CETACEAN RES. MANAGE. 10(1):81–88. Available athttp://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=usdeptcommercepub

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