Navy Ordered 12 Miles Offshore

According to SignOnSanDiego.com, a federal judge ordered the Navy to stay at least 12 miles off the California coast when using a type of sonar that causes “irreparable harm” to numerous marine mammals. The ruling puts several other immediate constraints on the Navy, but allows it to continue a Southern California training program that was jeopardized when environmental groups sued to safeguard whales and dolphins. Navy officials have fought restrictions on their war games saying national security However, the order by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper said the Navy’s own scientific studies indicated the Southern California operations would cause some 170,000 “harassment exposures” and 466 permanent injuries to marine mammals, including five endangered species.