You wouldn’t think that beaked whales would be that vulnerable. Giants of the ocean, beaked whales are deep divers and apex feeders.
They can’t withstand the United States Navy’s sonar, however. Sonar disrupts the beaked whale’s diving ability, resulting in brain bleeds and tissue damage. A number of whales have beached on the Marianas Islands’ shores where they die in agony. These whales show clear physical signs of distress due to sonar blasting. And some scientists believe the ones who appear on shore represent only a fraction of those whales killed by sonar.
This is too high a price to pay for war games and tests of new weapons technology. The United States Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service have a moral obligation to immediately suspend all sonar activity around the Marianas Islands to protect beaked whales. Please join me in signing a petition that will give whales a swimming chance.
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