Ears Wide Open

Aussie Humpback Calving Ground Threatened by Noise and Nets - A key humpback whale calving ground off the western Australia coast is targeted for at least three disruptive developments in the coming years, prompting calls for its designation as a World Heritage Site. Camden Sound, a natural harbour north of Broome, and adjacent bays and islands are the main calving grounds for humpback whales making a 13,000km return journey from Antarctica each winter. The region is under threat from development proposals for gas exploration (including several seismic surveys), bauxite mining, and the recent approval of a local shark- finning industry using 2.1km long drift nets with a 15m drop. In addition, Japanese oil and gas exploration company Inpex also recently announced plans to build an $8.23billion liquefied natural gas plant in the region, which would create a surge in large tanker traffic. Source: Cambera Times, 1/23/08 [READ ARTICLE]

Judge Sets Aside Two New Restrictions But Retains Most After Presidential Order Attempts to Exempt Navy From Laws in Question - Less than two weeks after a Federal Court ordered the Navy to take additional precautions to protect whales when doing mid-frequency active sonar training off the California coast, a Presidential order exempted the Navy from the need to comply with the Coastal Zone Management Act and the White House Council on Environmental Quality granted an exemption to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Navy claims the Court order "profoundly interferes with the Navy's global management of U.S. strategic forces, its ability to conduct warfare operations, and ultimately places the lives of American sailors and Marines at risk." While Bush has no authority to overturn a court injunction, with the exemption in hand, the Navy asked a three-judge panel in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to vacate the injunction. Instead, the Appeals Court sent the case back to District Court Judge Cooper, who imposed the new restrictions on January 4. Cooper responded by immediately giving some ground, at least temporarily setting aside two of the new restrictions that the Navy felt were especially difficult to live with: the expasion of the shut-down zone to 2200 yards and reducing sonar power during times when "surface ducting" conditions are present (which can allow sound to travel further without losing much intensity). Cooper will hold a hearing next week to hear full arguments from both sides. NEPA does not have an "escape clause" allowing exemptions, while both the coastal zone and marine mammal protection acts do allow for waivers. "The president's action is an attack on the rule of law," said Joel Reynolds, director of the Marine Mammal Protection Project at NRDC, who also stressed that the situation is not an emergency, since sonar training can continue under the Court order (not to mention in other training grounds around the world). Source: LA Times, 1/18/08 [READ ARTICLE] Washington Post, 1/16/08 [READ ARTICLE] AP, 1/16/08 [READ ARTICLE]
[See AEI Special Report: Active Sonars]

New San Diego Commuter Train Quieter Than Many Expected - The new Sprinter commuter train has begun test runs along lines that closely abut many residential areas in North County, CA, near San Diego. First impressions seem positive, with many residents noting the much quieter horns being used as the train approaches the many road crossings: the car-like horn sounds at just 85dB, as compared to standard freight and commuter train horns at 107dB. Tom Kelleher, a spokesman for the transit district, said he always expected the public to find the Sprinter much easier to live with than other passenger trains that traverse North County. "I think people really thought it was going to be like a Coaster type of engine," he said. "We're glad they're starting to realize that it's not." In Oceanside, Brett Albright, whose home is near College and Oceanside boulevards, said the Sprinter's warning horn does not make him cringe. "College (Boulevard) is more noisy than the train. It's not an issue for me. I don't really notice it," Albright said, as a semi-tractor-trailer released its cacophonous brake in the background, filling the neighborhood with a pulsing roar. Plans to create Quiet Zones, where barriers would allow trains to pass without blowing their horn at all, are in flux as municipalities monitor the new trains. In Vista, the city will see whether the full schedule of trains spurs more complaints, while in San Marcos, city Engineer Mike Edwards said, "It's quiet enough that we no longer feel it's necessary." Source: North County Times, 1/5/08 [READ ARTICLE]

Chukchi Lease Sale Set for February, Locals Seek Delay - The US Minerals Management Service has issued notice of its first oil and gas lease sale since 1991 along Alaska's northwest coast. The sale, scheduled for February 6, covers about 25 million acres, out to about 200 miles offshore. The sale area will not include near-shore waters ranging from about 25 miles to 50 miles from the coastline, which includes the near-shore area through which bowhead and beluga whales, as well as other marine mammals and marine birds, migrate north in the spring, and in which local communities subsistence hunt. North Slope Borough Mayor Edward Itta said, “With all the changes happening out in the Chukchi Sea, I don't think we should be adding to the problem with offshore oil exploration.” It is unclear whether noise from beyond the buffer zone would affect migrating whales or other marine life in the area; the Borough has asked MMS to gather more baseline data before considering development. “You can't measure the impacts over time if you don't have a starting point,” Itta said. “That's the whole purpose of baseline data.” On Dec. 26, a consortium of local and national environmental organizations asked MMS to delay any decision on the lease sale until it considered new information contained in its letter. The lengthy document outlined issues related to summer sea ice retreat, polar bears, walrus, humpback and fin whales and gray whales, noting that substantial new information has surfaced since the federal environmental impact statement on the proposed sale was completed. MMS officials said leases issued would include stipulations to address environmental effects that may occur because of exploration and development of oil and gas. These stipulations call for protection of biological resources, including protected marine mammals and birds and methods to minimize interference with subsistence hunting and other subsistence harvesting activities. Source: Alaska Journal of Commerce, 1/13/08 [READ ARTICLE]

Long Island Sound LNG Terminal Faces Challenge From New Application in Less Sensitive Area - A Liquified Natural Gas Terminal proposed for Long Island Sound faces a new challenge, in addition to active local resistance. Exxon-Mobil has propsed a similar facility off the New Jersey coast, and Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, claims that "this just proves our point that there are alternative locations other than the middle of Long Island Sound." Consultant Richard Levitan, who has advised the Long Island Power Authority about Broadwater, agreeed, saying he doesn't see a need for three of the same type of plants: Broadwater, Exxon Mobil's BlueOcean Energy, and the Atlantic Sea Island terminal south of Long Beach, which is proposed by privately held Atlantic Sea Island Group of Manhattan. But others say Exxon's willingness to invest $1 billion into increasing the region's gas supply verifies the region's future needs for the fuel. Energy expert Matthew Cordaro of Long Island University's Center for Management Analysis said the Northeast region could absorb more than 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day that would be produced by all three terminals. In early January, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal officialy weighed in, urging New York State to deny the Long Island permit, based on the NY Environmental Quality Review Act, which provides that the office must reject Broadwater if an alternative is safer with less environmental impact and provides comparable service. Source: Newsday, 12/13/07 [READ ARTICLE] ENS, 1/8/08 [READ ARTICLE]

Toys' Racket Could be Dangerous - Univeristy of California researchers have studied the sound output of many toys designed for young children, and found that they can exceed safe levels. If children play with their heads closer to toys than manufacturers expect, then they could experience some hearing loss. The loudest toy tested was the High School Musical Rockerz Jammin Guitar, at 108dB. Two "In Concert" dolls also exceeded 100dB, and, given that they are dolls, may well end up being held close to the head. Several trucks and other dolls exceeded 90dB. Prolonged exposure to loud sound can cause permanent hearing damage, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. OSHA considers it safe to listen to a 100 decibel sound for up to two hours a day, while NIOSH recommends less than 10 minutes daily for the same sound. Sources: Fox News, 12/5/07 [READ ARTICLE] Science Daily, 12/5/07 [READ ARTICLE]

Quiet Autonomous Gliders Promise "New Era" in Acoustic Monitoring - A major step forward in acoustic monitoring has passed its first test. “We are entering a new era of underwater sensing,” says Jim Theriault of Defence Research and Development Canada, in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who ran the first trial of small torpedo-shaped "gliders" as a platform for acoustic monitoring. Unlike other systems, which require a boat nearby to monitor either the tagging of whales or other autonomous vehicles, the gliders can use a satellite phone connection to return data to distant research bases. Also, the new system has enough data capability to detect not only low-frequency baleen whale calls, but also the high-frequency calls of sperm and beaked whales, deep-diving species of special concern in sonar studies (there are some indications that sonar signals can disrupt their natural dive patterns, perhaps causing injuries due to surfacing too quickly or not having enough time at the surface between dives). Peter Liss from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, U.K., chairman of the U.K. government’s Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology suggests that these gliders could be used in research to finally pin down whether noise does actually upset whales. “The link is probably there, but rather tentative,” he says. Since the glider is quiet and isn’t being followed at a close distance by a noisy ship, it should be able to gather the data needed to prove—or disprove—a link between sonar and whale strandings, he suggests. The glider being trialed runs on batteries and can last up to a month. But plans are afoot to make a low-power glider that can prowl the oceans for up to five years. Source: Conservation Biology, Oct-Dec 07 [READ ARTICLE]

Latest Yellowstone Snowmobile Plan Signed, Will Take Effect Next Winter - Culminating a planning process that began in 2004 as dueling Federal Court rulings left both the Clinton and Bush plans in legal limbo, the Park Service has signed the latest Winter Use Plan for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The Billings Gazette hopefully notes that: "The decision is intended to bring to a close the long-running controversy over winter recreation in Yellowstone, a dispute that has roiled for more than a decade and included several lawsuits, dizzying stacks of studies and hundreds of thousands of public comments." Indeed it may, though with snowmobile advocates still dissatisfied with the requirement that all riders be part of guided groups, and quiet use advocates pointing at measurements that show noise is audible over half the day in most popular areas, the chances of the plan being put into effect in the winter of 2008-9 remain uncertain at best. The plan allows 540 snowmobiles per day to enter the park, well over recent years' averages (depressed due to the guided tour requirement), but less than peaks of over 700 machines in previous years. Source: Billings Gazette, 11/21/07 [READ ARTICLE]
[See AEI Special Report: Yellowstone Winter Use]

Japanese Drivers Groove to Musical Road Surface - Three experimental stretches of road in Japan now reward drivers who slow down with a thirty second melody, produced by carefully engineered grooves in the road surface. The "Melody Roads" are best heard with windows closed, and traveling at 45kph (28mph). While such a design could be used to encourage drivers to settle into an optimal or safe speed, concerns remain about tire wear, as well as annoying drivers who prefer to choose their own music. Sources: Guardian, 11/13/07 [READ ARTICLE] InventorSpot Blog (with YouTube Video), 11/13/07 [READ POST]

Guerilla Cellphone Silencer Arms the Exasperated - The growing proliferation of cellphones, and the associated decrease in the reticence of users in public places, is fueling a growing market for cellphone jammers. Overseas suppliers say they are selling hundreds of units a month to frustrated Americans, prompting concern from the FTC, which regulates the frequencies, and, of course from cellphone companies. The devices block radio frequency transmissions in an area of a few feet to a few yards; individuals as well as theater owners, restaurants, and bus drivers are deploying them in order to create a relative cone of silence. A San Francisco architect recounts sitting down next to a 20-something woman who he said was “blabbing away” into her phone. “She was using the word ‘like’ all the time. She sounded like a Valley Girl,” said the architect, Andrew, who declined to give his last name because what he did next was illegal. Andrew reached into his shirt pocket and pushed a button on a black device the size of a cigarette pack. It sent out a powerful radio signal that cut off the chatterer’s cellphone transmission — and any others in a 30-foot radius. “She kept talking into her phone for about 30 seconds before she realized there was no one listening on the other end,” he said. His reaction when he first discovered he could wield such power? “Oh, holy moly! Deliverance.” Source: New York Times, 11/4/07 [READ ARTICLE]