Stop Unnecessary Deaths and Injuries of Dolphins and Whales

Thanks to an Earthjustice lawsuit, the U.S. Navy agreed for the first time to put vast swaths of important marine mammal habitat off-limits to deadly warfare training exercises—including those involving underwater explosions and mid-frequency sonar—but only in its current plan, which expires in December 2018.

The Navy now says it plans to prepare a new environmental impact statement for training and testing exercises in the Pacific Ocean from December 2018 onward.

But we need to keep up the pressure on the Navy to continue to protect marine areas that are essential to the continued survival of highly intelligent and vulnerable animals.

At the end of October 2015, two lifeless bottlenose dolphins had washed ashore in San Diego, California immediately following a Navy exercise 80 nautical miles away, where two ships were operating mid-frequency sonar. While the investigation into the dolphins’ deaths is not yet complete, this tragic event vividly illustrates the potential harm from Navy activities.

When it voluntarily agreed to our court settlement, the Navy made clear that it could both perform its mission and stay out of important marine mammal habitat.

Tell the Navy and President Obama—our commander in chief—to ensure that future plans for warfare training in the Pacific Ocean reduce unnecessary injuries and deaths of marine wildlife by staying out of vital marine mammal habitat.