US Navy's sonar use violates Marine Mammal Protection Act

Via Vocativ:

The Court of Appeals understood that the Navy can do more to reduce the risk of its powerful long-range sonar, especially in the vast reaches of the ocean where too little is known, Michael Jasny of the National Resource Defense Council, one of several organizations behind suit, said in a statement. Ignorance is no excuse for inaction where commonsense safeguards recommended by the governments own scientists can prevent avoidable harm.

The courts ruling will send both parties back to a district court for further consideration. But time may well run out on the NMFSs decision anyway; it expires in 2017. The Navy has already agreed to limit its use of sonar in certain locations starting in 2018. Soon, the only waves in the ocean will be the natural ones made of water, not man-made ones that come from sound.