My husband, who served two tours as a submarine sailor, fondly talks about his experiences with dolphins at sea: escorting the sub back into port and playfully doing jumps across the sub’s bow. We read stories about dolphins saving human lives, protecting them and leading people out of danger. I often wonder if these peaceful animals don’t have an ocean-full of lessons to teach us humans.
But we’re putting dolphins, whales, and fish in danger so we can easily search for new gas and oil deposits in the Atlantic. We blast areas with super-noisy air guns to get at deposits that are estimated to yield far less (some say nine times) than reserves off the coast of Alaska. These seismic blasts, 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine, can cause death and injury to those creatures. Meanwhile, the Navy’s use of sonar and explosives may, according to their own estimates, kill more than 200 marine mammals a year.
What the &%@#! are we doing?! Surely the great minds in government and science can find a better, non-harmful, less selfish way to co-exist on our planet.
