In the last several years, thousands of you have taken action to help stop the Navy from deploying harmful low-frequency sonar, and in 2004 NRDC reached a landmark agreement with the Navy limiting the use of this particular type of sonar. But the Navy continues to use mid-frequency sonar, another form of high-intensity sonar, to blast large expanses of the ocean with sound. This technology has been implicated in a growing number of whale strandings and even deaths around the world, from the state of Washington to the Bahamas to Greece.

Most recently, Navy training exercises off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, in early July coincided with a stampede to shallow water by a pod of up to 200 melon-headed whales. Melon-headed whales (which resemble dolphins) usually stay in deep water and are not known to beach themselves. Although concerned locals in kayaks and canoes were eventually able to herd most of the whales back out to sea, one young whale did become stranded and die. It's too soon to know for certain whether the sonar was the direct cause of the pod's distress, but the incident was similar enough to previous strandings caused by sonar that it warrants a full investigation by the Navy.

NRDC has sent a letter to the Navy, demanding that it stop using high-intensity, mid-frequency sonar in a way that harms whales. You can help by sending the Navy your own letter.

What to do:
Send a message telling the Navy to protect whales from mid-frequency sonar.

Background information:
Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar