美國法院查證海軍所用聲吶殘害動物
Sonar approved for use by the US Navy broke marine laws, a US appeals court has ruled. The case will now be sent back to a lower court for further consideration.
美國一家上訴法院近日裁定，美國海軍所用的聲吶違背了海洋法。此案件將交回下級法院進行進一步審理。The low-frequency active sonar, approved in 2012, is used to detect enemy submarines. But it can also harm whales, dolphins and walruses that rely on underwater sound for navigating, catching prey and communicating, according to environmental groups.
這種低頻主動聲吶於2012年獲批用於偵查敵軍潛艇。然而環保組織表示，聲吶殘害了依賴於水聲進行導航、捕食和交流的鯨魚、海豚和海象。In 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service permitted navy sonar use but required it to shut down or delay use when a marine mammal was detected near the ships. Loud sonar pulses were also banned near coastlines and in certain protected waters.
2012年，美國國家海洋漁業局批准使用海軍聲吶，但一旦監測到海洋哺乳動物靠近船隻時，需關閉聲吶或延時使用。同樣，在海岸線附近及特定的保護水域，禁止出現響亮的聲吶脈衝。
Environmental groups, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, filed a lawsuit in response, claiming the approval violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
美國自然資源保護委員會旗下的一家環保組織對此作出迴應，他們提起訴訟，宣稱允許使用聲吶違反了海洋哺乳動物保護法。While it said it believed the navy had attempted to follow guidelines, it concluded that the fisheries service "did not give adequate protection to areas of the world's oceans flagged by its own experts as biologically important".
雖然上訴法院認爲，海軍已努力遵循原則，但是該法院仍裁定，漁業局"並沒有對世界上的海洋給予充分保護，從生物學角度來講，當地專家認爲這些海洋十分重要"。According to experts, the sonar systems used by the navy generate sound waves that can reach 235 decibels - a loud rock band reaches around 130. These sound waves can travel for hundreds of miles under water and can retain an intensity of 140 decibels as far as 300 miles from their source.
有關專家表示，吵鬧的搖滾樂團的噪聲級別爲130分貝左右，而海軍的聲納脈衝測距系統發出的聲波可達235分貝。這些聲波可在水下傳播數百米，在離聲源300英里的地方強度仍高達140分貝。Although direct correlations are hard to find, some scientists believe that the use of sonar has changed the behaviour of whales which have been observed swimming away, sometimes hundreds of miles, rapidly changing their depth and beaching themselves.
儘管很難找到直接聯繫，但一些科學家仍認爲，使用聲吶已經改變了鯨魚的某些行爲，比如他們觀察到，鯨魚有時會在游到數英里的時候瞬間變換深度，將自己擱淺。
