A LONG-running dispute between environmental campaigners and the US navy over the effects of its sonar systems on whales has spilled into the courts.
At issue is the navy’s primary submarine-detection sonar, which fires powerful sound pulses in the frequency range 1 to 10 kilohertz, and listens for the echo. The environmentalists say that the sonar pulses injure marine mammals and have led to several whale strandings near sonar training sites.
The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental action organisation based in New York City, says that in peacetime the navy could take simple precautions to reduce the impact…
