Abstract
Sonar has been used by the United States and other numerous countries since the start of World War II, giving the United States a tremendous advantage over Germany and securing victory for our country. However, even though sonar is a tremendous asset for not only the United States, but all other countries to be able to use in heat of war, warfare itself has changed. Instead of sonar being used in deep off-shore areas, exercises are done to close to shore that it can be heard with underwater microphones. According to expert marine biologists, because of this practice, whales and other marine mammals are being severely harmed and killed. If the whales are lucky enough to survive the terrible blasts of sound waves bombarding their environment, sonar has the ability to disrupt their feeding, communication, and mating habits. There is no longer a question whether sonar harms whales nor not; the only uncertainty is if the harm comes from the sonar itself or the after affects of whales beaching themselves because of the sonar.

History of Sonar
Sonar, or Sound Navigation And Ranging, is not only important to the United States Navy, but countless navies across the globe. Ships use sonar to detect and intercept foreign ships during times of war and conflict. The Navy not only uses sonar for war, but it is also useful to detect objects in the ocean that are in the way of ships and could cause harm, such as vessels, reefs, and whales.
British naval scientists developed sonar after the numerous successful German submarine operations during World War I. The sonar systems “at that time only had short range and had to be rotated by hand to check in all directions” (Sonar).This system of detection first went into sea in 1921, kept secret by both the United States and Britain until World War II. Both countries were able to surprise the Germans by locating their submarines and attacking them before they could be seen above water.
Sonar itself uses energy to locate objects. It determines the distance, direction, speed, size, location, and then produces an image of the object on a map. This works “because of the way sound travels underwater. Underwater sound travels quickly and efficiently over long distances where radar does not” (Sonar). Sonar then determines the distance of an object from the unit by echo ranging. Echo ranging works by measuring the time it takes for a sound wave to travel from the transducer to reflect off the object and back to the receiver. Underwater sound travels about one mile per second; therefore; “if it takes two second for a sound wave to travel out and back then the object is one mile, one second-one mile out and one second-one mile back” (Sonar).
The use of the sonar system produces intense sound waves that sweep across the ocean light a flashlight, Some systems operate at more than 235 decibels, “producing sound waves that can travel across tens or even hundreds of miles of ocean” (NRDC). By the United States Navy’s own estimates, even 300 miles from the original source, the sonar waves can tertian an intensity of 140 decibels, “a hundred times more intense than the known to alter the behavior of large whales” (NRDC).

How Sonar Affects Whales
Not only whales, but other marine mammals depend on their hearing for their basic daily functions, such as orientation and communication in the sea. Whales and marine mammals use sound to find food, friends, mates, and their way through the ocean. When a frightening sound thousands of times power powerful than a jet engine fills the ears of whales in the ocean, the affects are nothing short of devastating. These manmade sound waves can down out the noises that marine mammals use for survival, causing serious injury and death.
The most widely used sonar systems used by the Navy operate in the mid-frequency range. The evidence of the danger caused by these systems was shown in 2000 when whales of for different species beached themselves in the Bahamas. Although the Navy denied having any responsibly of these whale beachings, the government’s investigation established that mid-frequency sonar caused the strandings and “there is not question that sonar injures and kills whales and dolphins” (NRDC).
There have been more causing of whale beaching that are becoming all to frequent. In September of 2002 fourteen beaked whales from three different species beached themselves in the Canary Islands during an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the immediate area. Over the next few days for more beaked whales beached themselves on the island. In July of 2004 200 melon-headed whales crowded themselves into the shallow waters of the Hanalei Bay in Hawaii as a large Navy Sonar exercise was taking place in the water. The next month, four more beaked whales beached themselves in Spain while sonar exercises were occurring.
Several of these beached whales have endured sever physical trauma, including bleeding around the brain, ears, and tissues and having large bubbles in their organs. These symptoms are also found in cases of “the bends-the illness that can kill scuba divers who surface too quickly from deep water” (NRDC). Scientists believe that the mid-frequency sonar blasts drive certain whales to change their dive patterns in ways that their huge bodies cannot handle, causing the fatal injuries.
These stranded whales are the most visible symptom of a problem that affects much large numbers of the marine life. Sonar has been linked to the disruption of the feeding and other vital behaviors of marine life and to cause a wide range of species to panic and flee their normal areas. The Navy even estimates that the increase sonar training will significantly harm marine mammals more than 10 million times during the next five years off the United States Coast.

Expert Opinions
Exactly how sonar affects the behavior and injures marine mammals remains a controversial issue. Roger Gentry, an expert on marine mammal acoustics at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospherical Administration, said “researchers were unable to confirm whether the damage was sustained when the whales came ashore, or whether the damage was sustained when the whales came ashore, or whether it was caused by the sonar itself” (National Geographic News). However, scientists did confirm that the strandings are likely to be linked to the sonar activity. A study published in the popular science journal known as Nature claimed that the Naval sonar exercise that occurred in the Canary Islands and caused the fourteen whale beachings “could have killed the whales by forcing them to surface too quickly, causing decompression, sickness, or the bends” (National Geographic News). CAT scans of two of the beach whales that died in this instance confirmed that the whales did in fact experience hemorrhaging around the brain and ears.
Whale expert Ken Balcomb, who has led the longest running study on killer whales, witnessed for himself the immense harm sonar causes to the innocent whales. While watching from his porch in Puget Sound, he heard reports from whale-watchers that orcas were behaving very unusual and that they had gathered into a tight group and were moving close to shore. After going down to see for himself, he witnessed one pod of orcas appearing very agitated and moving chaotically, lifting their heads free from the water. Balcomb says that it was “like they were searching for some way out of the sound field” (National Geographic News).
Balcomb was then able to confirm at the time that strange underwater pinging noises detected with underwater microphones were indeed sonar. The sound was found to have originated from a United States Navy frigate twelve miles away, but had moved within four mules of Puget Sound. Balcomb, along with other biologists, says that he is totally convinces that the United States Navy ships played a role in the destruction. Other researches conclude that whale beachings in the Bahamas and the Canary Islands are linked to the Navy’s sonar exercises.
Roger Gentry and other biologists have provided the United States Navy with a map of whale global hot spots to help alleviate further beaching incidents. The problem is that the military sonar exercises are beginning to occur in habitats not used before. Gentry says, “previously antisubmarine sonar exercises were carried out deep offshore. But warfare has changed” (National Geographic News).
The development of ultra quiet, diesel-electric submarines, “which have the potential to travel undetected and fire missiles inland” (National Geographic News), has meant that military drills are required close to the shore. Gentry also notices that the need to monitor marine canyons, “where are not only perfect spots for subs to hide in, but also favored habitations of various species of whales” (National Geographic News). While most evidence links the negative effects of new sonar to be beaked and possibly minke whales, it is plausible that killer whales are also affected by sonar. Scientists do agree that at this point, if a single species of whales were to die off, the rest of the whale species would be soon to follow.
Robert Gisiner, a marine mammal expert at the Office of Naval Research in Arlington, Virginia, notes that there is a clear connection between whale strandings and the use of mid-frequency sonar off the Canary Islands. However, Gisiner states that “we don’t really know how the effects on beaked whale occur. It’s hard to say at this stage whether the same thing is happening to killer whales” (National Geographic News).
Whales are extraordinary creatures that because of their immense size and exceptional beauty should be respected. Whales are important such complex creatures with such a diverse range of feeding habitats that they affect the entire oceanic food chain. Their complex brain size, (a humpback whale’s brain is five times the size of a human’s),their sound patterns that are more complex than any other creature on the planet, communication patterns provide marine biologists with significant amounts of information to study and try to improve the lives of one of the world’s endangered species.
If saving the whales from the harmful affects from sonar is not a good enough reason for people to take action in itself, the industry of whale-watching is a booming business. While individuals organize usually private trips, the size and rapid growth of the industry as a whole has enabled it to be worth up to $1 billion per year world wide. Being told how horrible America’s economy is on a daily basis, one can only assume that this billion dollar industry, if it were to cease due to the death of whales, would provide no relief to the failing economy.
Whales were here on earth before humans were and should be cherished and treasured creatures. Even though there are marine biologists that do try to protect the well-being of whales, others can join in the effort as well to ensure that the species will continue to thrive. However, with the use of dangerous sonar by Navies across the globe, the numbers of whales are slowly diminishing. Because of sonar being used closer and closer to the habitats of whales, whales are being driven to shore and ultimately dying. Not only the United States Navy, but others need to be aware of the harm sonar causes and need to make a conscious effort to protect them. Even though national security is highly important, it does not have to involve the death of numerous species of whales.