September 2007

 

Marine Mammal Research

Dear Friends:

We in Hawaii tend to be more sensitive to the impact of our lives and actions on the waters that surround our home and on the creatures that live in it. We've known for many years about the threat to the ocean environment posed by toxins, chemicals and wastewater generated by a growing and highly industrialized population. Only recently though has public attention turned to the impact on sea creatures - particularly marine mammals, such as dolphins and whales - caused by noise from large ships and by the U.S. Navy's development of incredibly high powered sonar equipment.

The problem is that the same basic technology used by the Navy to detect submarines underwater is used by dolphins and whales to navigate, communicate and find food, so they are very sensitive to sound traveling through the water. When they get a blast of acoustic energy from a Navy ship searching for submarines, it can be hurtful, even deadly.

Fortunately, scientists at the Marine Mammal Research Program at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology have been working for more than ten years to better understand the effects of sound on whales and dolphins. Dr. Paul Nachtigall and his staff probe and study the way such sounds as Navy sonar affect echo-location and communication among marine mammals. Their goal is to increase the availability of reliable data from independent, academically sound and established research.

I was able to include $1 million in the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act to continue the research at the Hawaii Institute into marine mammal hearing and the effect of underwater sound on the behavior of whales and dolphins. Funding for this research has been one of my priorities for the last ten years.

The 2008 National Defense bill also includes $3 million for further research, development and installation of marine mammal detection systems on Navy aircraft. These systems can electronically survey naval training areas before active sonar is used to try to avoid harming dolphins and whales. BAE Systems in Hawaii has been involved in the development of an airborne survey system that integrates known marine mammal migration patterns with real-time sensors that automatically and harmlessly detect the presence, location and movement of marine mammals.

The military's ability to use powerful and sophisticated technologies to detect threats to our national security is essential. But doing everything we can to prevent that technology from causing unintended harm is acting responsibly. This kind of research is simply the right thing to do. We are stewards of this earth. We have an obligation to care for the land, the sea and all the creatures in it.

 

Neil tours the dolphin research facilities at Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. (Seen here and above.)

 

Aloha,

Neil Abercrombie

Member of Congress