(JP) Environmentalists upset over sonar plans

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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104 & article=17487 & archive=true

 

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

 

Environmentalists upset over sonar plans

 

By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes

Pacific edition, Saturday, October 18, 2003

 

CHATAN, Okinawa — Shock ran though the quiet community

of Zamami this week in the wake of news reports that

the U.S. Navy will use controversial low frequency

sonar in waters off Japan’s coast.

 

This tiny island, part of the Kerama Island group some

25 miles west of Okinawa, is a Mecca for whale

watchers who flock to the East China Sea each winter

in hope of sighting humpback whales migrating from the

Aleutian Islands to breed.

 

The U.S. Navy last week agreed to limit its peacetime

use of a new sonar system to specific areas off the

coasts of North and South Korea, China, Japan and the

Philippines. The agreement was part of a settlement in

a suit brought by the Natural Resources Defense

Council, an environmental group that claimed the

high-intensity sonar harms marine mammals, such as

whales and dolphins.

 

“What a shame, was my first thought when I learned of

the news,” said Akira Oshiro of Zamami Village. He was

among officials responsible for promoting Zamami for

whale watching tours a decade ago.

 

“The waters in this area are some of the greatest

places to watch whales,” he said Thursday. “I’ve heard

about this sonar system that could threaten their

lives.”

 

He said he was upset at both the Navy, which targeted

Okinawan waters, and the environmental group, which

accepted the settlement.

 

“I want to know on what ground they agreed on the use

of the sonar in this area,” Oshiro said. “I wonder if

they knew that the western Pacific Ocean is rich in

marine mammals?”

 

The Zamami Whale Watching Association was set up in

1991. Oshiro said the island draws about 5,000

tourists between January and March, when the whales

come to Okinawa to breed.

 

“But the number of tourists and their economic impact

are actually of secondary importance,” he said. “What

we treasure is the ocean where the whales live. We

take pride in the sea where we can encounter whales.”

 

Oshiro said whales usually depart in early May.

 

“This is their breeding ground. After raising their

offspring here, they migrate to waters off the coast

of Alaska and Aleutian Islands to feed themselves,” he

said - adding that because the area is a breeding

ground, it also is where whales are most sensitive to

external events.

 

Such events, he said, include using the latest sonar

technology to hunt for submarines.

 

The Navy’s latest advance in sonar technology uses low

frequency waves that can travel great distances

underwater without losing strength. The technology is

perfect for detecting quiet diesel submarines at great

distances, weapons experts have said.

 

Environmentalists argue the sonar signals are

incredibly loud and frighten sharp-eared whales,

porpoises and other sea mammals.

 

They claim the sound panics the animals, causing them

to surface rapidly, placing them in danger from the

same decompression hazards that often plague divers.

 

Some of the animals become so disoriented and confused

that they beach themselves and die, environmentalists

claim.

 

“That is why it is sensible to limit the use of the

sonar in areas that could adversely affect sea

animals,” said Shinichi Hanawa of the World Wildlife

Fund for Nature Japan.

 

“The waters off the coasts of the Ogasawara Islands

and Okinawa are crucially important for whales,” he

said. “Also, the water around Okinawa is where the

endangered dugongs are.

 

“The use of the sonar in these areas is a serious

problem,” he said.

 

Dugongs are saltwater manatees more commonly found off

Australia and Indonesia. A small number have been

sighted in Okinawan waters, causing local

environmental groups to protest the planned

construction of a sea-based Marine Corps air station.

 

The site is off Okinawa’s northeast coast near Camp

Schwab, in an area of seaweed beds thought to be

dugong feeding grounds.

 

However, WWF Japan had no immediate plan to challenge

the settlement reached in San Francisco last week.

 

 

 

 

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