NRDC.org Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar

This page has links to NRDC's pdf file and a movie narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sound/contents.asp

Extract from http://johnmuir.ucdavis.edu/featurettes/lethal_sound.html:

High-intensity military sonar, which generates sound at levels in the range of 235 dB, has been proven to disturb, injure and even kill marine mammals. The Navy’s mid-frequency sonar devices are in widespread use and have been definitively connected to mass strandings of whales. The Navy’s Low Frequency Active Sonar, in the early stage of deployment around the world, carries for hundreds of miles. Even 100 miles from the source sound levels can approach 160 decibels. During tests near Alaska, the Navy calculated sound levels of 140 decibels 300 miles from the source ship -- an intensity level approximately 100 times more intense than the noise aversion threshold for gray whales.

Great and rare images of Beaked Whales from the Washington Post

The 2007 WP article is here.