Underwater Noise Pollution & SURTASS LFA

Underwater Noise Pollution & SURTASS LFA

Alvin Sherman Library 2053

The objective of this literature research project is to determine the effect of sonar noise on whales and to establish why use of such sonars should be condoned. In recent months, the national security of all the countries of the world may be at stake due to the supposed possession of activated nuclear weapons by various countries. The Navy is trying to protect the United States from attack by an underwater missile or submarine through the use of the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System and Low Frequency Active Sonar (SURTASS LFA). This active sonar that does its work with the use of “pings” in order to detect submarines that are high-tech and more difficult to see underwater. These “pings” create underwater noise pollution as sound travels about five times faster through water than air. These sounds interrupt various whales’ ability to find mates, navigate, hunt for food, avoid predators, and communicate with their young. The Navy admits that the damages incurred on the animals include tissue damage, permanent threshold shift in hearing, and in certain cases, resonance on the animals’ internal organs. The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) wants to prohibit the use of active sonar by ensuring the Navy is in court, however, the Navy has a duty to protect people and has taken preventive measures to ensure that the fewest possible marine organisms are hurt with the system’s operation. The latest legislation has allotted the Navy a permit for a geographically limited area of operation off the coast of Japan. The benefits of a system that will detect the newer, quieter, deeper traveling submarines (possibly carrying lethal weapons) are ubiquitous and necessary. Especially in times of war, it is quite necessary to operate the SURTASS LFA to aid in detecting potential underwater assaults.