SIGN PETITION TO TELL Obama Administration to Protect Whales & Dolphins from Bush’s Midnight Attack! Navy Floods Millions of Miles of Ocean w/ Sonar!

 

Urge the Obama Administration to Protect Whales from Bush’s Midnight Attack The Bush Administration unleashed a barrage of last-minute rules that would allow the Navy to harass or injure thousands of whales and dolphins. Speak out now to reverse this dangerous policy.

As President Bush flew off into the sunset, his administration left behind three dangerous rules that would allow the Navy "to take" -- to harass, injure or kill -- marine mammals more than 10 million times over the next five years of sonar training.

We must speak out now and urge the Obama Administration to reverse this unconscionable attack on marine mammals.

If the Navy gets its way, its ships will flood millions of square miles of our oceans with mid-frequency active sonar -- without essential safeguards –- that is known to cause disorientation, hearing loss, stranding and death in whales.

The sheer scope of these dangerous rules is staggering, impacting many thousands of marine animals in the waters along the Eastern Seaboard, the Gulf of Mexico, California and Hawaii.

Killing even one whale is too much -- especially if it happens to be an endangered North American right whale. With only 300 or so right whales left, government scientists have concluded that the "loss of even a single individual right whale may contribute to the extinction of the species."

But harassing these vulnerable species more than 10 million times -- even by the Navy's estimates -- simply defies reason and conscience.

Make no mistake: the Navy does NOT need to put marine mammals at risk in order to protect the American people. It could take common sense precautions, such as avoiding whale calving grounds, migration corridors, and critical habitat.

These safeguards would in no way compromise the nation's military readiness. But, realistically, the Navy will continue conducting business as usual unless it's forced to change.

With a new administration taking office, we have an unprecedented opportunity right now to make sure that the Navy conducts its sonar training in an environmentally responsible manner.

Call on the Obama Administration to reverse the Bush rules so that thousands of whales and dolphins will be spared the ear-splitting noise of Navy sonar.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
NRDC Action Fund

P.S. Taking on the U.S. Navy and the Pentagon -- the most powerful government agency on the planet -- won't be easy. We need millions of Americans to speak out now.