Mass Whale Deaths

Was reading an article in The Daily Yomiuri which says deployment of active sonar by US Navy to detect submarine activity has resulted in mass death and abnormal behaviour of whales in recent years. Marine animals have an acute sense of hearing. Even a low frequency sonar can cause a roaring sound comparable to a fighter jet and a mid frequency sonar can cause a sound comparable to that of a rocket!!! In most cases of mass death, dead whales were found with damaged hearing organs and in all cases the incident coincided with US naval exercise in the area. Growing incidents of whales(deafened by active sonar) colliding with ships have also been reported. Though US Navy has brought down deployment of active sonar in most oceans of the world due to environmental concerns, deployment in seas surrounding Japan has increased as US forces intensify surveillance of China's military activities.

This article, I thought, is just another reminder of how unmindful human activities spell danger and death for the other inhabitants of this planet.