加州海岸委員會決定批准南加州兩年海軍演習，不過前提是美國海軍應做好監測工作，以保護海洋哺乳動物免於遭受中頻率聲納的致命影響。週四的投票是海軍第一次請求委員會核准中頻聲納的演習，也是加州首次強調這種演習的安全條件。
演習將在離美國大陸不遠的水域進行，這個地點是藍鯨、座頭鯨、灰鯨、海豚、鼠海豚和其他敏感物種的重要棲地。
在全球各地發現鯨魚死亡或在垂死狀態，都正好是中頻率軍事聲納演習之後不久，聲納會在水中產生強烈的聲音振動。海岸委員會將要求海軍避開關鍵海洋哺乳動物棲息地，例如海峽群島海洋保護區和灰鯨遷移路線。
加利福尼亞灰鯨在所有哺乳動物中的遷移時間是最長的，每年游1萬英里，花費大約終生三分之一的時間從寒冷滋養的阿拉斯加，到溫暖的下加利福尼亞州的淺礁湖。往南遷徙的高峰期通常發生在1月中，往北遷徙則是在3月中。
現在海軍在夜裡和在低能見度的狀況下必須減少動力使用，因為鯨魚在這些情況下不容易被發現，而海軍無法在軍艦周圍擴大設立安全範圍，以防影響游經的鯨魚。
The California Coastal Commission has decided to approve two years of naval exercises off Southern California but only if the U.S. Navy puts in place measures to protect marine mammals from potentially lethal effects of noisy mid-frequency sonar. The vote taken Thursday represents the first time the Navy had sought the Commission’s approval for mid-frequency sonar training, and the first time California has imposed safety conditions for such exercises.
The exercises will take place in waters off the continental United States that host blue whales, humpbacks, gray whales, dolphins, porpoises and other sensitive species.
Whales around the world have been found dead or dying following encounters with mid-frequency military sonar that fills the water with loud pulses of sound. The Coastal Commission will now require the Navy to avoid key marine mammal habitat, such as the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and the gray whale migration route.
In the longest migration of any mammal, the California gray whale swims 10,000 miles each year, spending about one third of its life migrating from the cold, nutrient-rich waters of Alaska, to the warm, shallow lagoons of Baja California. The peak of the southern migration usually occurs in mid-January and that of the northern migration in mid-March.
The Navy must now power down at night and in other conditions of low visibility, when whales are hard to spot and establish expanded safety zones around haval vessels to keep from blasting nearby whales.
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
