Marine mammal | Be a Seed for Change

Take Action We just won another huge victory for whales and other marine mammals and we wanted to share in case you missed the news!

In response to an Earthjustice lawsuit, a federal court just ruled that the government must better protect endangered whales and other marine mammals from U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington by employing the best available science.

The sound level that whales and other marine mammals experience during the Navy’s mid-frequency sonar training can disrupt migration, breeding, nursing, breathing, and feeding, and in some cases, cause internal hemorrhaging and ruptured eardrums.

Earthjustice sued in court to protect whales and other marine mammals from these dangerous training exercises–andwe won!

According to Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda, who led the effort:

“This is a victory for dozens of protected species of marine mammals, including critically endangered southern resident orcas, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises.The National Marine Fisheries Service must now employ the best science and require the Navy to take reasonable and effective actions to avoid and minimize harm from its training activities.”

Earthjustice has been fighting for the protection of marine wildlife for years, butour work to safeguard our ocean ecosystems and the species that depend on them is far from over.
because helped us win a victory to protect northwest orcas earlier this year, I also wanted to encourage you to take action to protect other imperiled marine species–including Atlantic bluefin tuna, sharks, and sea turtles–from being unnecessarily slaughtered by longline fishing.
We couldn’t do our work, and win, without you!

Sincerely,

Steve Mashuda
Attorney, Earthjustice
P.S. Earthjustice has been working tirelessly to protect our oceans, but we need your help. Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to improve its management plan for fisheries that unnecessarily harm bluefin tuna and other imperiled species.

We’ve almost reached our goal of 50,000 public comments but we need your help to get there before the June 27 deadline!

After taking action, please share this with your friends:

Thank you again for taking action to protect northwest orcas from being delisted from the Endangered Species Act. The National Marine Fisheries Service is still reviewing public comments, including yours. We promise to keep you updated on the fate of southern resident orcas, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know about an action that you can take to protect Arctic marine mammals, including beluga and bowhead whales, from oil exploration:
The Arctic’s marine mammals use sound for survival, but planned oil exploration activities could strip them of that ability.
Take action: Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to say no to Arctic oil exploration that would harm marine wildlife!
Marine mammals—such as bearded and ringed seals, beluga whales, and the endangered bowhead whale—depend on sound to communicate, find food, and avoid prey. Oil exploration activities fill the ocean with loud noise that can interfere with these basic functions. Seismic surveying, for example, uses air-guns to detect oil beneath the sea-floor. The blasts—loud enough to cause deafness—occur day and night for months, and cover vast areas of the ocean.
The federal government is proposing moving forward with loud and risky oil exploration methods even though it has not completed an assessment of the cumulative impacts on Arctic marine mammals. Tell your government to take responsibility for protecting the marine mammals of the Arctic.
The remote Arctic Ocean and its wildlife are already under great stress from climate change. Why add the stress of oil exploration?
Tell the government not to permit any Arctic Ocean oil exploration until it completes a full analysis of the effects and understands how to mitigate the damage to marine mammals.
Sincerely,

Erik Grafe Staff Attorney, Alaska Office Earthjustice
P.S. We’ve almost reached our goal of 50,000 public comments but we need your help to get there before the June 27 deadline! After taking action, please share this with your friends: