US Supreme Court Allows Sonar Use

gollum123 writes "The US Supreme Court has removed restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises near California. The ruling is a defeat for environmental groups who say the sonar can kill whales and other mammals. In its 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court said the Navy needed to conduct realistic training exercises to respond to potential threats. The court did not deal with the merits of the claims put forward by the environmental groups. In reinstating the use of sonar, the top US court rejected a lower federal judge's injunction that had required the US Navy to take various precautions during submarine-hunting exercises. The Bush administration argued that there is little evidence of harm to marine life in more than 40 years of exercises off the California coast. It said that the judges should have deferred to the judgment of the Navy and Mr Bush. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said overall public interest was 'strongly in favor of the Navy.' 'The most serious possible injury would be harm to an unknown number of the marine mammals,' Chief Justice Roberts wrote. 'In contrast, forcing the Navy to deploy an inadequately trained anti-submarine force jeopardizes the safety of the fleet.'"

Navy's response.

[DoofusOfDeath]

"Can you hear me now? Good!"

What are they thinking?

[Anonymous Coward]

Chief Justice John Roberts said overall public interest was 'strongly in favour of the navy.' 'The most serious possible injury would be harm to an unknown number of the marine mammals,' Chief Justice Roberts wrote. 'In contrast, forcing the navy to deploy an inadequately trained anti-submarine force jeopardises the safety of the fleet.'"

Fools. Have they not seen Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home?

Re:Navy's response.

[RuBLed]

The whales will not take this lightly. You will definitely need the best navy you could get when they declare war.

I wonder if you will stand by your words

[denzacar]

When the "fucking whales" go mad from all the pinging and start tipping over boats. Full of babies. American babies. Who will have white skin. All of them.
Or when they start humping US submarines thus giving away their position when those evil terrorist Al-Qaeda submarines come along.

And haven't you seen that documentary earlier this year? It was in all theaters.
You don't fuck with the big underwater creatures.
Or they will come out, rip off the head off of the Statue of Liberty, rape it, and throw it in the middle of Manhattan.

Cause that is what happens when you fuck a whale in the ass, Larry.

Re:Navy's response.

[Kagura]

Well, they're now allowed to use SONAR in all operational environments for training purposes, provided they use one ping only.

ONE. Ping. Only.

Re:Take that, hippies

[smussman]

Yes, and the new President, in an effort to be fair and to change, will only appoint middle-of-the-road, unbiased-as-possible judges.~

Similar test

[tuxgeek]

A very similar test to simulate what this high powered sonar would sound like to someone under water, for Bush and the crypt keepers on the supreme court.
Stick their heads inside a 55 gallon drum and blast Metalica in the other end @ 400 db.

Re:Navy's response.

[tyrione]

"Can you hear me now? Good!"

Whales: ``We fart in your general direction! Take that you human scumb!''

Tsunami sized fart bubble cripples sub, news at Eleven!

Re:Similar test

[rob1980]

That depends, are we talking new Metallica or old Metallica?

Re:Navy's response.

[Tubal-Cain]

ONE. Ping. Only.

<insert Hunt For Red October quote here>

Re:Navy's response.

[Tubal-Cain]

You know what I would do if F22s got in the habit of breaking the sound barrier over my house? I would move. There is a couple thousand miles worth of coastline they can go to.

Re:What?

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe what he's saying, with his fingers appropriately placed in his ears, is "Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah...Environmentalists are poopyheads...Nah Nah Nah Nah... so long as the courts disagree with environmentalists, their decision is sound and I'll throw out specious justifications for it...Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah..."

Re:What?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey!!!

We're AMERICAN!!!!

That means we get to bomb gooks, spics, numpties of all kinds. For fun, and to protect the American Way. Wedding parties in Pakistan are good targets for us.

So these whales. They're foreign, right? They're capitalist? Nope. We're surrounded by pinko commie sea-life! Sonar the crap out of 'em, I say....

Re:Why the hell are we still using sonar?

[bakes]

The only practical way when using a "laser" is to attach it to the head of another marine animal. Obviously they can't be sonar-sensitive mammals, so would have to be fish. They'd also have to be large enough to be able to carry these "lasers".

Now, what large fish could we use to carry these fricking things... ?

Re:Navy's response.

[Anonymous Coward]

In open ocean there is room for animals to run away

Faster than the speed of sonar? I agree with your post though.

Re:Navy's response.

[The Moof]

Ah, a fellow Verizon customer! You can tell who we are because we tend to repeat the same thing three or four time three or four time three or four times.