SAN DIEGO — The Navy and several environmental groups settled a lawsuit that challenged the Navy's use of sonar around the globe as dangerous to whales and other marine mammals, the two sides said Saturday.
Both portrayed the settlement as a victory. The case is separate from one in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that the Navy could not be unduly required to protect whales.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, January 04, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 99 words Type of Material: Correction
Whales and sonar: In the Dec. 28 Section A, an article about the Dec. 26 settlement of a lawsuit involving the Navy's use of sonar said the Navy had agreed to pay $1.1 million in legal fees for a sonar case that had been decided in November by the U.S. Supreme Court. The fees are for the case settled Dec. 26 and a third sonar case. The article also said the Navy had agreed to mitigation measures to protect whales. The settlement did not include any new measures, but the Navy has pledged to abide by previously announced measures.
The Navy said the settlement -- reached Friday but announced the next day -- does not require protective measures for whales beyond those it had agreed to in 2005. Nor does it require that additional funds be spent on marine mammal research beyond the $14.75 million the Navy has already earmarked for the next three years, the Navy said.
"The settlement protects the public interest in national security by preserving the Navy's ability to conduct realistic anti-submarine warfare training," said Cmdr. Cappy Surette, a Navy spokesman.
A lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the settlement is a victory for whales because it sets up a schedule for the Navy to implement mitigation measures and opens the training process and scientific research to civilian review.
"This does not resolve all of our disputes with the Navy, but it sets in place a process to deal with future disagreements," said Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney and marine mammal protection specialist with the NRDC. "We're hopeful it will lead to a much more effective dialogue."
The litigation deals with what is called midfrequency sonar.
If the plaintiffs had been successful, the Navy said, that could have led to restrictions in some 370 training and testing activities around the world.
Under the settlement, the Navy agrees to:
* Use shipboard software to scan training areas for marine mammals and to plot a course meant to avoid sensitive areas when possible.
* Look for whales through passive sonar, lookouts and aircraft during training so that the animals can be avoided.
* Reduce or shut down sonar when whales or dolphins are spotted close to ships.
The settlement comes after the Supreme Court sided with the Navy in the similar lawsuit, which was aimed at restricting the use of sonar during exercises off Southern California and Hawaii.
Reynolds said his side had already begun negotiating with the Navy about a settlement before the Supreme Court's decision.
