Georgia: Suit to Protect Whales

Quarter 2

Article 8

Ny Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/science/earth/29brfs-SUITTOPROTEC_BRF.html

Miller Chapter 6

The area covered is national.

Environmental groups sued the Navy to halt plans for an offshore training range that they fear would threaten endangered right whales, which migrate to waters off Georgia and Florida each winter. The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in coastal Brunswick, says the Navy approved construction of the $100 million range in July without completing studies to determine whether ships, submarines and aircraft training 75 miles offshore would pose significant harm to the whales. Researchers estimate that only 300 to 350 right whales remain.

I'm disappointed that the Navy just built this range without first conducting any studies. Since there are only few whales existing, I think that the Environmental Groups should win this case.

Vocabulary-

Right Whale - Right whales rotund bodies are mostly black, with distinctive callosities (roughened patches of skin) on their heads. They can grow up to 18 m (59 ft) long and weigh up to 100 tons. They are called "right whales" because whalers thought the whales were the "right" ones to hunt, as they float when killed and often swim within sight of shore. Intensive harvesting during the active years of the whaling industry drastically reduced populations. Today, instead of hunting them, people often watch these acrobatic animals for pleasure.