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Bahamian Environmentalists Appalled By Ongoing Sea-based Sonar Testing Program In Bahamas Waters
Related to country: Bahamas

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Environmentalists criticize sea-based sonar testing program:
By IANTHIA SMITH, Guardian Staff Reporter -
Nassau, Bahamas:



Angry environmentalists are "crying shame" on the government for giving the go-ahead for a controversial sea-based testing program to carry out a second phase.

Just a year ago several environmental-friendly groups blasted the government for allowing international and local mammal research entities to study the behavioral responses of deep-diving whales, including beaked whales off the coast of Andros, by exposing them to potentially damaging levels of underwater noise, and seeing how they react. The environmentalists sounded off on the Behavioral Response Study (BRS-07) and what they called a premature decision.

Now, Director of the Bahamas Environmental Research Center Margo Blackwell said she's had enough of successive governments "selling out" the country's marine animals. Blackwell said she's having a hard time understanding why the government has once again agreed to such a "damaging" experiment.

"I am appalled by both governments," Blackwell said. "The last ones who just okayed the agreement for another five years and this one, who tell them (scientists) it's okay to do whatever they want. Nobody's telling us what's going on and meanwhile they're out there destroying whatever. I am not surprised that they are going to continue it, AUTEC has been extremely active in the last few months," she claimed.

Last year the first phase of the experiment used underwater hydrophones, suction cup tags and marine mammal observers to assess the animals' behavioral responses to sounds of varying intensity at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC).

Environmentalists explained that deep-diving whales are sometimes startled by loud noises that cause them to surface, in some cases giving them the "bends", a situation that causes nitrogen to build up in their blood vessels. The bends has claimed the lives of many Bahamians who go deep-sea diving. Environmentalists added that the loud noise affects the whales' hearing, and disrupts feeding, mating and navigation processes because whales make noises to communicate, and the interference of such harmful sounds confuses them. The experiment on the rare and elusive species was conducted east of Andros, in the Tongue of the Ocean. During last year's experiment, chief scientist working on the study Ian Boyd told The Nassau Guardian that there was a suggestion that additional experiments may take place in future years, adding that this decision depended entirely on the outcome of last August's study that ended in September. Now, reEarth Director Sam Duncombe is questioning what exactly happened with last year's experiment that would force scientists to have another one.

"The fact that this testing is still going on is a disgrace," Duncombe said. "Whatever happened to a report from the first one? It is disgraceful that this is going on and there was no environmental impact assessment required, and the fact that our government is going along with this is also disgraceful."

According to the BRS-07 cruise report, the absence of negative control stimuli for the testing forced scientists to have to repeat the exercise, to help them better understand the sound features that elicit responses.

Both Duncombe and Blackwell said the fact that the government is allowing these scientists to continuously conduct such testing will have crippling effects on the sea mammals, and the country will suffer in the long run.

But Director in the Department of Marine Resources Michael Braynen simply said the experiments will do more good than harm.

"I think the potential benefits outweigh any negative aspects," Braynen said. "This was always planned to be a multi-year thing so people should have seen this coming."

Braynen said Boyd and his team have already re-applied for their permit to begin round two of their sonar testing later this month, adding that his department is already working on finalizing the permit.

This year's experiment is set to start later this month and will be conducted by the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization, the USA's National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), AUTEC, Marine Acoustic Incorporated and the Sea Mammal Research Unit from Scotland.

August 7, 2008 | 9:14 AM Comments  0 comments

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