Even as Naval funded research reveals signs that the loud underwater noise from sonar testing could negatively affect whales and dolphins, over the next 5 years the U.S. Navy plans to increase their sonar testing.
Mass strandings have increased worldwide since the military started using sonar. Scientists believe the sounds disorient and scare animals into shallow waters where they can wash ashore or be stranded by sandbars separating them from deeper water.
Only recently has technology been developed that can monitor how sonar affects marine mammals.
Without more information the navy cannot safely conduct these tests with the certainty they won't cause more harm to endangered marine mammals.
More information is needed before allowing Naval sonar testing expansion.