Navy Sonar Kills Whales

The Navy said it couldn’t happen again, but now U.S. Navy sonar exercises in Crete have driven whales onto the beaches to die, once again.

This heartbreaking photo shows just two of the whales who were killed by U.S. Navy sonar exercises in April.

Now the autopsy results are in, showing hemorrhaging of internal organs, bleeding from the ears, and other signs of decompression sickness, and the cause of this crime is clear: Navy sonar. OUR Navy.

Enough is enough. The killing must stop. Right now!

As commander in chief, the president has direct command over the Army and the Navy. He is constitutionally charged with taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. The killing of innocent whales and dolphins—whether in domestic or foreign waters—is a flagrant violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other federal laws. The Navy is not above the law. These crimes violate every code of human decency and must be stopped.

With the single stroke of his pen, President Obama can order the Secretary of the Navy to cease sonar trainings in whale and dolphin habitats.

Please join me in demanding that the president sign an executive order halting sonar trainings in marine mammal habitats.

The president has direct authority over the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with enforcing our marine mammal protection laws. With one phone call, the president can order the head of Fisheries to require the Navy to conduct Environmental Impact Statements on all its training ranges, both domestic and international.

It’s too late to save the whales who died during the U.S. Navy war games in Crete. But if you and I cry out for justice, we can compel the president to act. Together, we have the power to end the U.S. Navy’s war on whales and dolphins.

Click here to add your name to the petition, and then pass it along to your friends who care about whales and our oceans.

With heartfelt thanks,

–Lyndia

This petition was created on MoveOn’s online petition site.

PHOTO CREDIT: L. Aggelopoulos /Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute 2014. Used with permission.

Indiscriminate Killing

Off the coast of California, giant mile-long fishing nets are left to “soak” overnight. In the morning, fisherman pull up their catch – and that catch often includes dead dolphins, with water in their lungs and netting dug into their skin.

These dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles and whales struggle to escape, but the nets are so massive and strong that it’s nearly impossible. Trapped, they struggle until they run out of air.

For the fishing industry using these walls of death, dead dolphins are just another part of doing business.

Enough is enough. Oceana’s new report has identified these drift gillnets as among the top offenders in the nation – and now it’s time to hold them accountable and change these devastating practices.

Our new report on the needless waste and death of marine wildlife revealed some truly horrifying numbers. Nine U.S. fisheries fish so indiscriminately that they have to throw out almost as much as they bring to shore, and much of this wasted catch dies before or after being tossed overboard.

These fishing practices irreversibly harm our precious ocean ecosystems, indiscriminately killing animals big and small, and leaving millions of edible fish like cod and halibut sinking dead to the bottom of the sea.

Simple changes—like switching from giant nets to selective harpoons—would make a huge difference, and we need the help of ocean-lovers like you to make them a reality. Your gift today will help Oceana push for stronger enforcement and better regulations to minimize wasted catch, put pressure on these fisheries to do the right thing, and protect the amazing animals who call our oceans home.

But stopping them won’t be easy. We will need to influence legislation, put people on the ground, and keep the story in the press to get these fisheries to clean up their act. Put simply, we won’t be able to do it without people like you standing behind us.

Please, help make the difference for dolphins and sea turtles. Chip in by midnight on Friday to join Oceana in the fight to protect ocean wildlife in the U.S. and around the world. »

These fisheries are driven by profits – not what’s right. Changing their ways is going to take time and money. Your help is critical to keep up the fight so that we can continue to put pressure on the worst offenders and the federal government to enforce stronger common-sense regulations.

I’m so glad we have you with us for these critical fights.

For the oceans,
Susan Murray
Deputy Vice President, Pacific
Oceana

Stop Killing Whales Iceland

Sadly our planet’s whales face more threats today than ever before, including the cruelty of commercial whaling. There is no humane way to kill a whale and little market for whale meat. Despite this, the Icelandic government issued new quotas for hundreds of minke whales and endangered fin whales to be harpooned annually for the next five years.

I’m sure you agree that commercial whaling has no place in the 21st century. Responsible whale watching is a cruelty-free and profitable alternative to the cruelty of whaling.

Please send a message to the Icelandic Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture asking him to cancel these quotas immediately and call an end to whaling in Iceland once and for all.

Because we know that you care about future generations of whales, we have worked alongside Icelandic whale watch operators for many years to promote responsible whale watching. Iceland is one of Europe’s top destinations for whale watching and last year attracted 175,000 whale watchers.

By contrast, recent Gallup polling, that we commissioned, found just 3 percent of Icelanders have bought whale meat six times or more in the last 12 months. The survey also revealed 75 percent of Icelanders never buy the meat, with women and young adults even less likely to buy whale meat.

Whaling damages Iceland’s reputation, attracting criticism at home and abroad. In summer 2013, both ports and carriers in Europe publicly rejected the whale meat trade when containers opened at ports in Rotterdam and Hamburg were returned to Iceland and met with public protests at the killing of whales for products such as dog food.

Despite this, the latest whaling quotas allow 229 minke whales and 154 fin whales to be slaughtered every year for five years.

Please join me in calling on the Icelandic government to stop supporting the efforts of Iceland’s whaling crusader, businessman Kristjan Loftsson, and a few others, and instead halt this cruel, outdated and uneconomic practice.

Thank you for your support for whales.

Patrick Ramage
IFAW Program Director, Whales

Nowhere Else in the World

Nowhere Else in the World

The Arctic Ocean is like nowhere else in the world. Home to walruses, beluga whales, and polar bears, this frozen landscape is teeming with life. But soon this fragile habitat could be swarming with oil rigs instead.

Oil companies may soon be able to start buying up new leases in the Chukchi Sea, the first step to oil drilling and, eventually, oil spills.

Act now to oppose new oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea »

The Pacific walrus dives deep down to the seafloor to hunt for shellfish. It needs a stable, healthy environment to survive. If an oil spill were to hit the Chukchi Sea, walruses could be forced to swim through oil. Even worse, the effects of a spill could kill food on which walruses, whales, and other animals depend, leaving these incredible animals hungry.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is preparing to sell oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea. Drilling in the Arctic is very risky due to icy waters, bad weather, and the complete lack of proven spill response technologies. Shell’s efforts to drill exploration wells have been met with failure after failure, culminating in the grounding of a drilling rig near Kodiak, Alaska. If oil drilling is allowed in the Chukchi Sea, it will only be a matter of time until a disaster strikes.

Walruses and whales need a safe home. Submit a public comment telling BOEM that oil drills don’t belong in the Chukchi Sea »

If enough of us speak up, we can convince BOEM to keep unsafe oil drills out of the U.S. Chukchi Sea entirely.

This important sea needs to be kept safe for the walruses, whales and polar bears who live, hunt, and migrate within its waters.

For the Arctic,
Rachael Prokop
Oceana

Louder Than A Jet Engine

Louder Than A Jet Engine

There is no escaping from sound 100,000 times louder than a jet engine.

But if Big Oil gets its way, whales and dolphins from Delaware to Florida will soon be forced to flee such noise, or die trying.

Oil and gas companies want permission to use seismic airgun testing along the Atlantic Coast. This technology blasts sound waves powerful enough to detect oil deposits for offshore drilling – and destroy marine life in the process.

The government’s own reports estimate that at least 138,500 dolphins and whales – including endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale and blue whale – would be injured or killed if oil and gas companies are allowed to go forward.

The Obama administration is poised to give the green light to this project as early as this month. But we can prevent this torture if we act quickly. Just last fall, massive public outcry stopped seismic testing off the California coast. We can do the same at the national level now.

Tell the Obama administration to protect whales, dolphins and other creatures from injury and death by rejecting all seismic testing proposals off the Atlantic Coast.

The amount of seismic testing oil and gas companies want to perform is staggering. Airguns would fire every ten seconds for at least eight years in an area of ocean twice the size of California.

And this testing wouldn’t just impact marine mammals. It drives sea turtles away from their nesting grounds and destroys fish eggs, damaging East Coast fisheries.

Even when companies finish testing, the threat to the oceans and marine life won’t be over. If the companies find oil deposits, the area will be filled with new offshore oil rigs instead of airguns.

Send a message to the Obama administration telling the agencies responsible to prevent seismic testing and keep our coastlines safe for all marine life.

We’ve had some huge breakthroughs for whales and dolphins in the past year, including stopping seismic testing in the Pacific and creating a path to protection for the Bering Sea canyons. And we’ll be working on this issue throughout the summer and beyond as part of our campaign to save marine mammals.

Together, we are making real change for the millions of whales and dolphins that are in danger from sonar, seismic testing and whaling.

Thanks for speaking up for our beautiful blue planet.

For the whales,

Phil Kline
Greenpeace Senior Oceans Campaigner

Whales & Dolphins In Atlantic

Tell President Obama to protect the Atlantic

Thousands of whales and dolphins in the Atlantic could soon be subjected to loud seismic airgun blasts, shot over and over again for months on end. We’ll need YOUR HELP to stop it.

Right now, we are gathering signatures from members of Congress on a letter to the president asking him to stop these deadly plans. We want to make sure he hears the message, so we’re asking YOU to sign on as well to let him know how important it is that these plans are stopped.

Sign our People’s Sign-on Letter to President Obama to reject seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic »

Seismic airgun testing for oil may begin in just a few months in parts of the U.S. Atlantic coast. Animals close to the blasts could be killed or injured, and others will be forced to flee their habitats.

These tests consist of sending airgun blasts, louder than a jet engine, straight into the ocean floor, every ten seconds for weeks on end. Not only will the blasts kill or injure beloved animals like the endangered North Atlantic right whale, but it also could drive away the fish that East Coast fishermen depend on. About 222,000 jobs in the coastal fishing and seafood industries could be disrupted, affecting communities that are already struggling from the effects of Hurricane Sandy and the recession.

Furthermore, seismic testing is the first step to offshore oil drilling. Once offshore drilling starts on the East Coast, it’s only a matter of time until there is an oil spill like the one we saw in the Gulf three years ago.

Protect dolphins and whales from deadly airgun blasts. Sign the letter to President Obama today »

Your voice can make a difference in this important fight. Thank you for standing with us.

Thank you,
Rachael Prokop
Oceana

Airgun Blast Kills Whales

Dear Gabriel,

A whale’s ears can be more important than its eyes. And one loud airgun blast may deafen a whale forever. A deaf whale is a dead whale. Without a way to communicate, hear danger, or sound out the waters, whales and dolphins deafened by seismic airgun blasts may find themselves lost, hungry, or killed by a predator they couldn’t detect.

These blasts are used to find oil and gas under the seafloor, and they may soon be used in Atlantic waters off the U.S. coast. Oceana is fighting to block these plans and protect our Atlantic shores. Become a 2013 member today to join the fight to save the Atlantic and all the animals who are threatened by these deadly blasts »

The waters slated for seismic airgun testing include territory used by endangered North Atlantic right whales. With less than 500 of these whales left, we can’t afford to let a single one be harmed by seismic airguns. These airguns create blasts as loud as dynamite and go off every 10 seconds for weeks at a time.

We’ve gathered thousands of signatures against seismic airgun testing from activists like you, including 40,000 on the official White House petition site. Our organizers on the ground are bringing together coastal communities and rallying against these dangerous plans. We’ve managed to get seismic testing in the Atlantic delayed—but we’re not going to stop fighting. Can we count on your help?

After seismic testing in Madagascar, dozens of melon-headed whales beached themselves and died. The Department of the Interior estimates that 138,500 dolphins and whales will be injured by the proposed testing in the Atlantic.

Harmful seismic testing is also the first step to oil drilling off the Atlantic coast, bringing the threat of deadly oil spills to new waters. Your 2013 Oceana membership will help us ramp up our efforts to protect dolphins, whales and their habitats in the Atlantic and all over the world »

For the oceans,
Rachael Prokop
Oceana

These Whales Need Help

Dear Gabriel,

Sperm whales are family creatures. The endangered whales travel in pods with their relatives and spend years raising their young. But the time they spend carefully raising each child means that it will take a very long time for these creatures to replenish their numbers and rise out of endangered status.

And while we wait for their numbers to grow, healthy sperm whales are having their lives cut short by drift gillnets off the coast of California. Drift gillnets are mile-long walls of nets that are left out in ocean waters overnight to catch swordfish and thresher sharks. But these nets also catch these endangered whales. We need your help to save them.

You can help stop the unnecessary killing of sperm whales. Donate today to help meet the $50,000 goal by May 15»

Southern California’s deep waters are home to an abundance of squid—a sperm whale’s favorite snack. And while pods of whales are swimming in these squid-rich waters, they may find themselves facing a wall of nets.

In 2010, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) estimated that 16 sperm whales became entangled in drift gillnets off of Southern California. For Pacific sperm whales, which take so long to give birth and which have such a small population, those 16 whales were irreplaceable. If we continue to allow drift gillnets to kill these whales, their future is at risk.

Sperm whales can grow to over 50 feet long and weigh 40 tons. You would think these massive creatures would not have much to fear, but a mile-long net wrapped around their fins or tail can keep them from swimming, cause lethal injury, and even trap them underwater. A sperm whale can hold its breath for a long time, but if it’s held underwater overnight in a drift gillnet, it will drown.

It’s time to stop this practice. Oceana is working to convince NMFS and the state of California to phase out this deadly gear type and replace it with cleaner gears, but we need help to keep up the fight.

Give by May 15 to help us protect endangered whales and the world’s oceans»

Your support will help us fund our work to protect ocean ecosystems off the California coast and across the globe. Our work has resulted in great victories in these waters—from establishing a protected area for leatherback sea turtles to stopping an expansion of these deadly drift gillnets—and now it’s time for us to continue the fight and end drift gillnetting in California altogether.

Thanks for all that you do.

For the oceans,
Rachael Prokop
Oceana

Take Down The Nets!

Take down the nets!

Sperm whales are truly astonishing creatures; a deep-diving family-focused creature with a lifespan that rivals humans and the largest brain in the animal kingdom.

You wouldn’t think that an animal as big as a sperm whale would have much to fear, but they do. These endangered mammals face a deadly threat off the California coast: mile-long drift gillnets that can entangle their fins and tails, holding them underwater until they drown.

Help us reach our $50,000 goal to fight for endangered whales and other threatened wildlife»

Drift gillnets are set off California’s southern coast, left out overnight to catch swordfish and thresher sharks. These large nets create mile-long “walls of death” that will tangle up many sharks, turtles, marine mammals and fish that encounter them. Held underwater, air-breathing animals like whales and turtles will drown if they can’t get free.

Sperm whales are already endangered. Like humans, they tend to go several years or longer in between births and raising their young; which means that it will be a long time still before their population can recover from centuries of whaling. In 2010, the National Marine Fisheries Service estimated that 16 sperm whales were entangled in drift gillnets—a number that their small population just can’t handle.

Oceana is campaigning to remove these destructive nets once and for all off the U.S. West Coast and have them replaced with cleaner fishing gear. We can’t risk losing more whales to deadly nets.

Give by May 15 to help us fight for sperm whales and all the world’s oceans»

Thanks to supporters like you, this year Oceana stopped a proposed expansion of this fishery into a protected area for endangered leatherback sea turtles; but we can’t stop this fight until we can guarantee that all ocean waters off California are safe from these deadly nets.

For the oceans,
Rachael Prokop
Oceana

Speak Up For Those Who Can’t

Gabriel,

Millions of whales and dolphins are about to be killed, permanently injured, or harmed, just so the U.S. Navy can run training exercises.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is responsible for the protection of these marine mammals, but instead of tossing out the Navy’s reckless training plan, it is about to give the Navy the green light.

We can get NMFS to block the Navy’s dangerous proposal, but we have to work fast. NMFS is gathering public comments on the Navy’s plan, and it won’t say no to the Navy unless they feel public outrage.

We have just 4 days left in the public comment period to flood NMFS with messages speaking up for the millions of whales and dolphins that cannot speak for themselves.

Act now and tell the NMFS to reject the Navy’s deadly proposal before it is too late.

Along the entire East Coast and in Hawaii, Southern California, and the Gulf of Mexico, the Navy will be testing sonar and explosive devices so deafening, they cause whales to abandon their normal feeding grounds and migration patterns. The Navy’s own report states that over 40 marine mammal species will be impacted, including the endangered humpback whale and the blue whale.

For marine mammals caught closer to the training exercises, the pain they would suffer would be immense. The powerful sonar blasts will destroy their hearing and even cause their brains to hemorrhage. Naval sonar has already led to mass whale strandings, as disoriented whales attempt to escape the noise.

We cannot allow this proposed training program to permanently disrupt the oceans these mammals call home. We must act now and demand that NMFS does its job and protect marine mammals, not aid in their extinction.

Tell NMFS that when it comes to marine mammals, there are no exceptions. We only have 4 more days to secure the safety of millions of marine mammals, so send in your comment now.

Together, we’ve won some amazing victories for whales in just the last few years. From stopping a plan for seismic testing off the coast of California to blocking South Korea’s attempts to restart its whaling program, our work is making a serious difference. With your support, we will continue the fight to protect the millions of whales and dolphins that are in danger.

For the whales,

Phil Kline
Greenpeace Senior Oceans Campaigner