U.S. Action Group Helps In Andros Whale Controversy:

By Erica Wells -
Nassau, Bahamas:


Environmentalists and Andros residents who are calling for a stop to all testing in the Tongue of the Ocean are now receiving "significant" assistance from an environmental action organisation out of the U.S. in their push to learn what is behind three whale deaths in the area in less than two months.

The National Resource Defense Council, which helped New Providence residents stop a multi-million dollar gated community development at the historic site at Clifton Cay in the late 1990s, is helping local activists gather the information needed to understand the issues surrounding marine mammal strandings and the causes, said Margo Blackwell, director of the Bahamas Environmental Research Centre in Andros.

With this information, activists hope to improve their chances of learning if testing at AUTEC has anything to do with the string of whale deaths in Andros.

"[The information] outlines the Navy’s responsibility and it also outlines the mammal deaths that have taken place in the same time frame, mass stranding that have occurred around the world and it shows the connection with military operations at that time," Mrs. Blackwell said.

Also featured prominently in the report from NRDC are the 2000 whale and dolphin strandings in Abaco, which marked one of the first times the U.S. Navy admitted that sonar testing was behind such an incident.

While residents report that whales have been washing ashore on Andros since the late 1960s, the first of the most recent strandings occurred in late February, when a 41-ft long sperm whale washed ashore at Behring Point, in sight of the AUTEC base. Weeks later, a beaked whale was found dead at Big Wood Cay - 10 miles south of February’s stranding – and days later another beaked whale washed ashore in the same area.

Two dead whales were also found in the Abacos over the same time period - an unidentified species of whale near Grand Cay, and a 20-ft sperm whale at Treasure Cay.

While the U.S. Embassy insists that there is no scientific evidence linking the whale deaths to specific testing at AUTEC and have emphasised that activities at the base are not harming the environment, fisheries experts are concerned that the strandings are happening too frequently in the same area to be a coincidence.

Tomorrow, a much-anticipated meeting will be held between AUTEC and Bahamian government officials at the base in Andros; however, residents fear that their concerns will not be represented.

"There needs to be some representation from Andros. I’m still waiting to see what is going to happen and who [makes up the team] that has been picked to go to AUTEC," said Mrs. Blackwell.

"There is a major concern on Andros that this be taken seriously and not be business as usual."

In the meantime, residents have organised their own meeting, for 7 o’clock tonight at Behring Point, where Mrs. Blackwell will share information about whales, sonar testing and ocean noise, and how that affects mammals and fish, "so they can understand what are some of the issues that will be dealt with, with AUTEC and the government."

"It will be a discussion, information and education sharing process, and will deal with what kinds of answers people want to have to their questions," said Mrs. Blackwell.

"I haven’t met anyone who is not prepared to see this as something serious and [feel] that their voices need to be heard."

It is very clear that the burden of proof, as it relates to what is causing these deaths, rests on the Navy and AUTEC, she said.

Mrs. Blackwell said that while she has been told by Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Leslie Miller that she has been invited to the meeting, she has yet to be contacted officially, adding that if residents are not represented at Thursday’s meeting there will be "further action."

Mr. Miller, along with Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, Health Minister Dr. Bernard Nottage and Environment Minister Dr. Marcus Bethel, along with a representative from the BEST Commission and environmentalist Sam Duncombe, are expected to attend tomorrow’s meeting.

Mrs. Blackwell also took the opportunity to strongly deny the perception that activists are out to "shut down AUTEC."

"The issue is not about shutting down AUTEC," she said. "It’s about having responsible and environmentally sound programmes in place [at the base]. And it’s for us to have an opportunity to understand what work they do and to know and be able to check for ourselves that in fact they are doing it in a responsible way."

26 April 2006