Lawmakers call on the Navy in Guam to cease harmful sonar training

After the Navy has finalized its Mariana Islands training and testing plans, several lawmakers have called for caution. The training plan authorizes the Navy to use 1,818 hours of active sonar in the region’s water. However, growing bodies of research have indicated that active sonar might be correlated to marine mammal strandings, which have coincidentally increased during the last year.

“Six beaked whales have washed up on Guam's shores since 2007, according to the Guam Department of Agriculture. Four of these incidents, depicted in the graphic, occurred within days of Navy operations.” Source: https://eu.guampdn.com/story/news/2019/03/03/military-proposes-sonar-use-more-whales-wash-up-guams-shores/2865769002/

Therefore, Resolution 365 was introduced by Senator Kelly Marsh with the support of eight other lawmakers, demanding the Navy “to not use active sonar or conduct other training that inadvertently harms whales, dolphins and other marine mammals […] in areas identified by the government of Guam as habitat for beaked whales and other cetaceans.” It also asks the Navy to conduct passive sonar to detect the presence of marine mammals in the area before any harmful active sonar activity. Marsh points out that the resolution “simply asks the Department of Defense to have more open dialogue with the government of Guam and provide the same sort of protections here that they provide California and Hawaii.”

Many residents have also criticized the Navy’s sonar use during a public comment period. On Friday, a public hearing took place to further push the process along. How it will end is not yet clear.

For more information, see the full article: https://eu.guampdn.com/story/news/local/2020/09/09/guam-legislature-hold-public-hearing-navy-use-active-sonar-marine-mammals/5765503002/