The Navy on Monday agreed to prohibit explosives and sonar, which are harmful to marine life, in certain waters off Hawaii and California.
A gray whale dives off the coast of California near Long Beach.
Robyn Beck / Getty Images
The Navy has agreed to curb its use of sonar and other training exercises off Hawaii and California that have been found to harm whales and other marine mammals, according to a new agreement with environmental groups that was approved Monday.
The agreement, which was signed by a federal judge in Honolulu, focuses on areas in the water that the Navy will greatly limit its training activities, including use of mid-frequency sonar and explosives. In March, a U.S. District court sided with environmentalists who had sued stop the exercises.
David Henkin, an attorney for the environmental legal aid organization Earthjustice, called the resulting settlement a watershed moment.
"It's going to have very important ramifications for all future training approvals because the law requires them to do as much as they can do practically to limit injury and death," Henkin told BuzzFeed News.
A pod of dolphins swim as the amphibious assault ship USS America sits on the horizon in waters off San Diego.
Gregory Bull / AP
The environmental groups' case focused on sonar and explosives, which are considered to be the most harmful to marine life.
Sonar is known to cause whales and dolphins to beach themselves, and can cause permanent hearing loss when used in close proximity to animals.
In 2011, a Navy explosive blew up four dolphins off the coast of San Diego, Henkin said.
The Navy's estimate for harm includes more than 2,000 permanent injuries — such as from ship strikes, sonar, or explosives — to marine life over a five-year period. Still, Henkin said the Navy's plan is a massive improvement.
"The settlement agreement is a compromise, because we needed to find ways to bring down the level of harm," Henkin told BuzzFeed News.
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