Introduction
Modern advancements have aided our generation and will help many to come. They brighten our rooms, power our cars, and cure our diseases. They seem to be revolutionary and make us wonder how we ever managed to live without them, but are modern advancements actually that good? There is an expression, to take the bad with the good, but what if the bad out weighs the good? Sonar is imperative to navigation, location, and observation, but it also is a danger to marine life, more specifically whales. It can confuse, injure or even kill whales, its unsafe to be using these types of devices. This is an issue because whales play a vital role in the food web and affect an estimated 5,000-12,000 different species (NBC News). Though whale injuries are quite horrific we do need sonar for research and new modern developments. This proves to be an issue over the controversy of whether or not sonars are acceptable to be used.
Sonar
Sonar is an acronym for sound navigation and ranging meaning that sound waves are used to move around and determine the distances between objects. Sonar is a crucial component to many seaworthy vessels. Civilians use it to map the ocean floor, determine water depths, find fish, and locate underwater objects such as pipelines, wrecks and wellheads. Naval uses are to find torpedoes, submarines, sea mines, swimmers, acoustic mines, and navigation. Sound is much more efficient underwater, traveling at a 3,403.5 miles per hour (mph), while only traveling at a meager 769.5 mph through the air; sometimes sound can travel even faster depending on temperature, salinity, density and pressure (Encyclopedia of Marine Science pg. 497). This is due to the close association of between water molecules. Sound is an out...
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...orm their pod.
Conclusion
Programs and petitions have been set up to protect the whales, but they only raise awareness. In 2003 the Navy agreed to limit the usage of sonar to a small percentage of the area before the court case (National Resources Defense Council). They also enforced seasonal rules, as to not interfere with breeding. In 2004 the European parliament ceases all active sonar.
Works Cited
"Bad News for Whales and Dolphins: Navy to Expand Sonar Testing - NBC News." NBC News. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2014.
"Does Military Sonar Kill Marine Wildlife?" Scientific American Global RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.
"Lethal Sounds." NRDC:. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014.
"Seismic And Sonar Testing." Greenpeace. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.
"Sonar Does Affect Whales, Military Report Confirms." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 08 Jan. 2008. Web. 01 May 2014.
The main focus in this article is the two killer whales that died from mosquito
“Whales provide us with the food for our bodies, bones for our tools and implements and spirits for our souls.” “We haven’t hunted the whale for 70 years but have hunted them in our hearts and in our minds.” “Whales are a central focus of our culture today as they have been from the beginning of time.”
The quest to gain international agreement on ethical and legal norms for regulation of whaling has had a long and troubled history. The modern phase of global concern over whaling ethics and conservationist management originated in 1946, when the International Convention on Regulation of Whaling was signed. Thus the International Whaling Commission was created. The International Whaling Commission was designed to control and mandate the whaling industry. From it’s beginning as simply a whalers club with scientific guidance, to the current day conservationist body; the IWC has undergone many revisions and transformations since the start. In 1982 the IWC voted to implement a “pause” on commercial whaling (which is still in effect today). Which major whaling nations, Japan, Norway, Peru, and the Soviet Union (later replaced by Russia) lodged formal objections, due to the fact that the moratorium was not based on advice from the Scientific Committee. One major disappointment of this regulation was due the fact that the moratorium only applies to commercial whaling. Thus, whaling under scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence is still allowed. Japan and other countries have continued their hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary under the “scientific research” loophole. However, environmental activist groups openly dispute the claims and continue their rally to end the whaling industry for good.
Image sitting on the beach one July morning. The sun is beaming down and decide to go for a swim. As you approach the water, you see a whale unusually close. You begin to get nervous as it continues to approach the shore. However, you aren’t worried because you know that they are confined to the sea. As the whale comes near you can see it clearly. Just as you think that it will turn around, the whale walks out of the ocean!
Whales living in captivity become aggravated and have been known to take out anger on themselves by self harming. In the pools they live in, metal bars are placed in between the pools to prevent the killer whales from swimming to another pool. On several occurrences, the whales have attempted to bite and break the metal bars. This leaves the whales with broken teeth and a risk of infection. Infections in killer whales can lead to death in many cases. If a whale gets an infection, they have to be taken out of the pool and placed into another pool by themselves to prevent any problems with other killer whales they live with. In many cases, whales with infections need serious care from whale specialists.
"NZ Dolphin Rescues Beached Whales." BBC News. BBC, 03 Dec. 2008. Web. 26 Feb. 2
Ultrasounds use the same concepts that allow sonar on boats to see the bottom of the o...
SeaWorld claims that Blackfish’s rhetoric is “false and misleading” because it lacks “a shred of scientific support.” But if SeaWorld has dealt the scientific evidence card, then there are plenty of holes within its game play. One of the first claims that SeaWorld makes is that Blackfish’s information is dated. There is validity to that claim: after all, Blackfish relies on trainers who had their heyday in the 1990s. Yet SeaWorld’s scientific evidence is equally dated. SeaWorld backs many of its claims with a paper written in 1998 by Dr. Ingrid Visser. Dr. Ingrid Visser, whose work was cited without her permission, has since decried SeaWorld’s use of her paper in its rebuttal. Dr. Visser is also an outspoken opponent of killer whale captivity.
In 2015 only 59 shark attacks have occurred around the world compared to the millions of sharks killed by humans every year. Due to these accidental shark attacks people tend to think that sharks, especially Great Whites are evil creatures with malice intentions when attacks do occur; but, on the contrary that is wrong. Sharks are not the only beautiful and unique creatures in the ocean, they also play a vital role in our ecosystem; however, due to human interference they might not be around much longer, through awareness sharks can be protected from endangerment.
The origin of modern day whales, a mystery that has puzzled paleontologists for years, may have just been solved with the discovery of an ankle bone. This discovery might sound simple and unimportant, but the bones of these ancient animals hold many unanswered questions and provide solid proof of origin and behavior. The relationship between whales and other animals has proven to be difficult because whales are warm-blooded, like humans, yet they live in the sea. The fact that they are warm-blooded suggests that they are related to some type of land animal. However, the questions of exactly which animal, and how whales evolved from land to water, have remained unanswered until now.
Looking at Figure C, we can say more than 200,000 blue whales has been killed as results of overhunting. In 1966, the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling for blue whales, but illegal hunting still occurs (NOAA). While blue whales are no longer being threatened by overhunting, their population is drastically depleted. Like many other marine species, blue whales are being harm by many others factors today. This include collisions of ships, chemical pollution such as oil spills, and noise pollution from vessels (Eco). The population of blue whales is known to be around “10,000 to 25,000 ” (World Wild Life).
The latest animal rights issue to hit the public is a whale of a controversy. For decades, the public has enjoyed visiting SeaWorld and taking in mesmerizing displays of aquatic performance by orcas, the largest species of dolphins, and their trainers. Recent events have stirred up a media uproar over the safety of these creatures and their trainers. Much of what the public knows about the maltreatment of these creatures comes from a documentary released in 2013 called “Blackfish”. The breeding and captivity of killer whales for entertainment purposes poses a threat not only to the whales, but also the trainers who interact with them.
Hackmann, Willem Dirk. “SONAR.” Encyclopedia of World War II. Vol. 2. New York: Facts on File, 2007. Modern World History Online. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. .
whales have surprised scientists not only because of their size and strength, but also because
I just want you to stop and think about what you just saw for a moment. You are a 10 ton Minke Whale just swimming like any other day, when suddenly there is an excruciating pain in your side. You start to panic and pull away from the pain but that just makes it worse. After painstakingly struggling for some time you start feeling slicing pain through your body. Hundreds more stab and attack your skin until you choke on your own blood and eventually die. You are hauled onto a vessel carrying more just like you, most probably to be from your own pod. You bleed even more and are sliced up into small pieces to sell in mass produces of meat to eat. But you shouldn’t worry at all! These inhumane killing sprees are only for research to understand more about how other human impacts are killing whales such as noise pollution and oil pollution. It’s perfectly normal to kill thousands of whales just to see how we can help them! WRONG! Over 500 southern pacific Minke whales experienced this in just one year, and hundreds of other species of whales did too, including endangered species like the Fin whale.