Marine Mammals In The Military

On this Memorial Day, it is appropriate to note that the United States Navy will soon begin using Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins and California Sea Lions to guard Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington State, which serves as the home base for eight of the Navy’s ballistic-missile submarines, two cruise-missile subs, and one fast-attack sub. Reportedly, the dolphins and sea lions were trained by the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program in San Diego and will soon be moved north to Kitsap. Their primary mission will be to detect terrorist swimmers or divers and assist in their capture. It is a sad testimony to our time that such a use of marine mammals is necessary; however, using them to assist in the war against terrorism is a far more noble and justifiable purpose than allowing them to be enslaved in aquariums for entertainment purposes. As such, we wish the Navy well in their efforts to keep safe their nuclear submarines, which are a key part of the might and right that holds back the dark cloud of evil that seeks to destroy our world. May God bless all the men and women who serve in the United States armed forces, and in those of free nations everywhere.

The Navy Gets It Wrong With Right Whales

Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Savannah, Georgia, in an attempt to stop the United States Navy from building an Undersea Warfare Training Range in the Atlantic Ocean off Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to heavy ship traffic involving extensive mid-range active sonar, this 500 square nautical mile zone will entail hundreds of miles of undersea cables and acoustic devices. Clearly, after 9/11, the Navy must take whatever steps it deems necessary to protect the nation and while this training range may be the right thing to do, it is being done in the wrong place since the location is adjacent to the shallow waters where endangered North Atlantic Right Whales give birth to their calves each year from November to April. It is a brutal fact that whenever whales and warships come together, the whales always lose. Since there are only 300 to 350 Right Whales left on the planet, the death of even one can be devastating, especially when it could have been avoided. We are hopeful that the lawsuit will get the Navy to move their training range; however, we are not optimistic given that in November 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Navy on a similar matter that threatened the lives of whales. It would seem that compromise is a term not found in U.S. Navy training manuals.