9/27/2004: Beached pygmy whale calf

[tw]

Now go to a major problem only recently discovered. Once whales could communicate maybe as much as half way across the ocean. But man is now dumping so much noise into the oceans that it already is known to cause damage to some whales brains. It is suspected that some noise sources are so loud that ocean mammals now become separated. This being especially problematic for the calves of whales who no longer can find their mother.

Most destructive is a new NATO sonar that is repeatedly suspected to cause mass beachings even 50 miles away. This frequency sonar is said to be the best sonar yet. However it uses the same frequencies that ocean mammals use - at power levels destructive to those animals. The Navy has agreed to limit their use of this sonar.

Other noise sources include noise created by new, larger ships. Yes, a secret to making shipping less costly is to produce less noise - put more energy into moving ships by producing less noise. However, ship technology is instead just producing more power for bigger ships. No major effort is known to reduce shipping noise on these larger ships. Dead mammals don't cost anything. Oil is still too cheap. Research and development costs money when MBAs are the primary decision makers.

And so we must ask why these whales are dying? Disease? Or man-made? The current thinking is that we cannot prove it is man-made. Therefore it must be from something else.

An old Star Trek story parodied the problem. Too many high warp spacecraft could disintegrate the fabric of space. There are always consequences to what we do. More power is never an ideal solution. Like it or not, the oceans are becoming a new treasured parkland that we must learn more about - or lose its benefits. Is this but a canary in the coalmine? Either we use science, or we do as George Jr does - consult the bible.