Monday, June 01, 2009

Whale tales

I am not saying this is the reason for the whale beaching as described by VI, but a serious consideration should be given as to why these whales beached, and one of the reasons is listed below. If you are not au au fait with the sonar issue, the video is worth a watch.

Whales and other marine mammals rely on their hearing for life's most basic functions, such as orientation and communication. Sound is how they find food, find friends, find a mate, and find their way through the world every day.

So when a sound thousands of times more powerful than a jet engine fills their ears, the results can be devastating -- and even deadly.

This is the reality that whales and other marine mammals face because of human-caused noise in the ocean, whether it's the sound of airguns used in oil exploration or subs and ships emitting sonar.

Manmade sound waves can drown out the noises that marine mammals rely on for their very survival, causing serious injury and even death.

video

3 Opinion(s):

Corry said...

Hi Joe, I live just a few Kilometres from Kommetjie and the first thing I said to our neighbours when we heard about the beaching was that it may have been a submarine nearby. The Navy later stated that there were no SA Submarines (they probably have no qualified personel to operate these ships anyway,)on these waters at the time, but what about those huge Yankee subs that sail all over the oceans of the world without any country being the wiser.

Joe King said...

You are right Corry, it is definatley not an SA sub, they were beached long before the whales. Go search youtube and see the destruction that sonar causes. It is a fact and not a myth.

Joe King said...

I retract the above statement with regards to the SAN submarine service. I did a bit of homework and discovered some interesting facts. Please read Zilles Navy, I posted after my uninformred jab at the SA Navy.