Post-mortem tests on beached whales have blamed the military sonar for their death. In view of this, navy warships are planned to be equipped with a £2.5m scanning system to spot marine mammals. The system will be using advanced software to adapt the ships’ sensors to ‘listen’ for the sounds of more than 100 species, which includes whales, porpoises and dolphins. The moment any are detected, the sonar will be switched off.
This development comes as the sonar confuses them into surfacing so quickly that they suffer fatal attacks of the ‘bends’. The deadly condition, which afflicts human divers when they ascend too fast, can also strike marine mammals, scientists in Britain and the Canary Islands have established.
Via: Times Online
