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Sonar from military may hurt the whales

Over the years we have seen military aircraft and ships come and go during their war games in our “Whiskey-Golf” area

Over the years we have seen military aircraft and ships come and go during their war games in our “Whiskey-Golf” area. It was awe inspiring  to watch.

But now, the scientific community has come together and proven that military sonar kills marine life. Whales beach themselves, some die from brain injuries, dolphins are affected, turtles die and who knows what else out there below the surface.

This makes me wonder as a human, do we have the right to murder these intelligent creatures?

Obviously Parksville has no trouble killing other species that get in the way of our comforts, but sonar killings are decimating numbers of whales on the endangered list.

Are we going to live with that? Can we live with that?

The word out now is the U.S. has developed a stronger sonar that they will be using all around the world.  It would lead to major destruction of our marine mammals.

That is a terrifying thought.

When was the last time anyone saw a dolphin pod swim through our waters? I’ve never seen one.

Perhaps “Whiskey-Golf” war games might be in part to blame. It would certainly explain why the northern pod of Orca only come as far as Campbell River and the Southern pod of orca stay around Victoria.

I realize in these troubled times that the military needs to be prepared, but the paranoid approach of “bigger, better and ahead of everyone else” is hurting our world.

How much sonar does our Canadian military use and where?  I imagine the answer would be the same as the Americans — all around the world.

Does this bother you? It should.

Elaine Thompson

Parksville