Oh No! NotMore Sonar!

[aquageek]

There has been much discussion about the effect of sonar on marine life. It's becoming increasingly more noisy down there. Almost all marine animals rely on some kind of sound for determining location and for feeding. Today I just read an article about the government adding more sonar that will protect us from scuba diving terrorists. This sonar will be able to tell the difference between a diver and a dolphin. My immediate response was will the dolphins be able to tell the difference between deep water and shallow after this deployment. I know we're at the top of the food chain and we need to protect ourselves from our fellow humans. I just wonder what the consiquences of this new deployment will be on marine life. How or if it was tested for any impact on the aquatic environment. Perhaps someone out there has some answers.

Thanks,

AG

 

[zboss]

I wonder if there were divers in the water near this event and their ears got hurt... or someone got killed, if they could sue the Navy.

 

[aquageek]

Actually it's looks like the Coast Guard. Here's the story link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7244239/site/newsweek

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Links to this story have been posted before. You might enjoy reading what other members have said.

WRT confusing dolphins, you need to look at what sonar basically is. ‘Sonar’ means transmitting sound into the water and listening for an echo. Dolphins make noises and listen for the echo. While you are right that the Coast Guard sonar works in basically the same way, it is not anywhere near the dolphin’s range of hearing. They cannot hear the Coast Guard sonar, so cannot be confused by it.

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

I wonder if there were divers in the water near this event and their ears got hurt... or someone got killed, if they could sue the Navy.

Since insonifying divers is a necessary part of developing a system like this, human exposure risks have to be evaluated early. I wouldn’t worry about casual exposure.

Besides, the whole point of the system is to protect high-threat areas and assets. If you are diving close to ‘strategic assets', than you have bigger things to worry about than sonar exposure. You are probably going to be considered a terrorist and get a concussion grenade dropped on you.

 

[zboss]

Since insonifying divers is a necessary part of developing a system like this, human exposure risks have to be evaluated early. I wouldn’t worry about casual exposure.

Besides, the whole point of the system is to protect high-threat areas and assets. If you are diving close to ‘strategic assets', than you have bigger things to worry about than sonar exposure. You are probably going to be considered a terrorist and get a concussion grenade dropped on you.

but then why "test" the sonar during manuvers? Which stands to question - what's the POINT of the new sonar? Why bother? We know we can hear our enemies boat a long way off.

 

[cyklon_300]

WRT confusing dolphins, you need to look at what sonar basically is. ‘Sonar’ means transmitting sound into the water and listening for an echo. Dolphins make noises and listen for the echo. While you are right that the Coast Guard sonar works in basically the same way, it is not anywhere near the dolphin’s range of hearing. They cannot hear the Coast Guard sonar, so cannot be confused by it.

What's that? Can you speak up a bit...

here's some other info...

http://www.environment-hawaii.org/801will.htm

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

but then why "test" the sonar during manuvers? Which stands to question - what's the POINT of the new sonar? Why bother? We know we can hear our enemies boat a long way off.

The sonar in question is a fixed-location (no 'manuvers') system to identify divers. Has nothing to do with enemy boats.

From the article, "to protect U.S. ports against scuba-diving attackers."

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

What's that? Can you speak up a bit...

here's some other info...

http://www.environment-hawaii.org/801will.htm

SO YOU WANT ME TO SPEAK UP? j/k.

The low-frequency, high-power stuff has caused a lot of controversy. But, that's a different deal altogether.

What we're talking about here is the same as commercial fish-finders and depth sounders.

 

[archman]

Anybody know just how likely it is of an underwater terrorist attack? This sounds rather silly to me... maybe its of better use in Middle Eastern seaports, 'course I don't hear of scuba attacks much there either.