Limits on U.S. Navy sonar training to benefit whales and dolphins

The court rejected the Navy's appeal of a ruling that banned high-powered sonar within 12 miles (19 km.) of the coast and set other limits that could affect Navy training exercises. On the same day, a federal judge in Hawaii issued a similar ban on sonar training for Hawaii's coastline. According to Joel Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “The court is saying that neither the president nor the U.S. Navy is above the law." The coastal areas of Southern California are home to dozens of species of whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions, including nine species that are federally listed as endangered or threatened.

April 2008