I T S   E F F E C T S   O N   S E A   L I F E

2006 Update: The Navy has published a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for its use of SURTASS LFA sonar, available for review at http://www.surtass-lfa-eis.com.

Public comments on the SEIS are due February 10, 2006.

 Comments can be sent via e-mail to: <eisteam@mindspring.com>

 Or by mail to: SURTASS LFA Sonar EIS Program Manager, 4100 Fairfax Drive, Ste 730, Arlington, VA 22203.

 The Navy proposes to employ SURTASS LFA sonar within the same operational areas as proposed in its original EIS published in 2001—namely, throughout the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea—with a few exceptions for new offshore biologically important areas. 

i n   b r i e f

• What is LFAS? LFAS is an acronym for a Navy project, otherwise known as Low Frequency Active Sonar. This project is aimed at detecting the presence of submarines using low frequency sounds. The reasoning behind using low frequency sounds is that those sounds travel great distances.

• LFAS is often related to the Water Hammer project which is developing a system which will generate pressure pulses of energy with timed explosions to neutralize the threat of mines. The only similarity is that both projects will introduce more noise into the world's oceans.
  

i n   d e p t h

• New! Read the personal viewpoint of Dr. Peter Tyack, one of the scientists hired by the Navy to help develop and monitor the LFAS system's testing! 
• The LFAS can have potentially serious biological impacts. 
• Scientific aspects of Low Frequency Active Sonar, by Lee Tepley

• Given the heated debates between the researchers and the conservationists, there are several political implications. 

• Why should such a system be developed? Doesn't the country already have adequate measures to protect the people? 

• The technology used in the LFAS project is not a new idea. The concept of using sound for underwater detection has been around for years. 

• The whales are definitely a part of this earth like the rest of us and should be treated with equal respect. 

• Click here for various paintings and pictures and here for addresses where you can write to for more information and to express your opinion about the subject.

• HOT!! Click here to hear the LFAS sounds. (Obtained from DreamWeaving International) 

• UPDATES:
  March 2000: Atypical mass strandings and naval exercises

L I N K S

LFAS SITES

• The Navy's LFAS site
• Beached Whales (FOX)
• Whale Research (CNN)
• Whales Alive! 1, 2, 3
• LFAS Testing
• LFAS Message Board
• NRDC Overview
• News from Greece
• Honolulu Star-Bulletin
• Debunking the Navy

WATER HAMMER SITES

• Mine Smasher
• DARPA Overview

OTHER MILITARY SITES

• The US Navy
• Naval Undersea Warfare Center

C O N T A C T   U S

• Eric Dashofy
• Rasheed Baqai
• Meadow Leys
• David Wong

Students in H90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation"
Campuswide Honors Program,  University of California, Irvine.

• Instructor: 
  Dr. Peter J. Bryant (pjbryant@uci.edu),  Interdisciplinary Minor in Global Sustainability

Visitors since 27 April 1998: 
S I T E   I N F O
This page should be viewed at 800x600 resolution for optimal viewing. The views of this site do not necessarily form a consensus of opinion. Rather it is the intention of this site to represent information about LFAS and its impact on our livelihood.
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