Perhaps the most confusing aspect encountered while researching this web site is the nature of the tests conducted by the Navy in order to determine the amount of harm their system would actually cause to marine animals.

Despite the fact that a detailed description of these tests is available on the US Navy's web site, a great number of environmentalist agencies seem to have been very unclear as to what it is the Navy is doing. One UCSD professor even confused the sonar system with a DARPA project known as "The Water Hammer."

To clarify the matter, here is a summary of the nature of the tests which were actually conducted by the Navy. This is basically a shorter version of the Navy page linked to above. In other words, these are all basically claims made by the Navy, and not by independent agencies:

1. The experiment's purpose was to determine the effects of low frequency sound on the behavior of marine mammals.

2. Extensive protective measures have been put in place and every effort has been made to ensure that marine mammals aren't exposed to harmful levels of sound. That is to say, during the tests, marine experts were on hand to observe the reactions of marine life to the sound being projected at them. The levels of the sound were increased very gradually, and the Navy was legally committed to stop testing if the experts on hand believed the behavior exhibited by the animals in question indicated that they were being harmed or put under discomfort.

3. The Navy conducted these experiments in concert with experts from the scientific, academic and environmental community.

4. Principle amongst these experts were Dr. Peter Tyack of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and Dr. Christopher Clark of Cornell University's Bioacoustic Research Program, both of whom are internationally prominent marine mammal experts.

5. The Office of Naval Research is sponsoring this research by independent scientists.

6. These were three phases to the test:
   • Phase I took place off California in October 1997 and focused on feeding blue and fin whales.

   • Phase II took place off California also, in January 1998 and focused on migrating gray whales.

   • Phase III took place west of the Big Island of Hawaii in March 1998, and focused on the singing humpback whale.

7. While some behavioral responses were observed during the experiment, none raised any concern about potential harm to the animals. According to some sources, these responses included a decline in the number of whales in the area around the testing and evidence of some whales increasing the speed of their swimming. It is unclear as to whether or not the Navy has dismissed these reports as coming from unqualified sources, or whether its own experts felt that these behaviors did indicate that harm was being done to the animals in question.

8. This research was developed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

9. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a permit for the research.

10. The State of Hawaii's Office of Planning agreed that the research is consistent with the State's Coastal Zone Management Plan.

11. The research will not only facilitate a more marine animal safe low frequency sonar, but provide valuable scientific information regarding the effects of other man-made low frequency sounds in the ocean, such as those made by large ships.

12. The data obtained will be available to federal and state regulatory agencies, and to the public.

13. These tests were strictly for the purpose of research, and were not live tests of the actual sonar system.

14. While humpback whales sing at volumes of between 144 and 174 decibels, this experiment will involve sound levels between 125 and 155 db. The following illustration from the Navy's web site explains the exact nature of the 'volume issue':
    

    To make this statement more clear, humpback whales themselves produce sounds of between 144 and 174 decibels. It is unclear from the Navy's statement whether or not this sound is measured at the source (i.e. right next to a singing whale), or at some distance from that source. However, if the sound is measured away from the source, then the actual sound produced by the whale at the source would be louder. Thus, assuming that a whale would not produce sound at a level which would harm it itself, whales are capable of withstanding sound of between 144 and 174 decibels on a regular basis. The sound produced during the Navy's research was (at least, if we believe their claims) at lower levels than this. More information on this subject is available in the section of our page describing the technology behind the low frequency active sonar. (Click "main site" at the bottom right.)

15. The whales were only exposed to sound for 42 second intervals spaced at least 6 minutes apart. The sound was only on for a maximum of 21 minutes during an entire day.

16. The Navy's research team has arranged for an independent cetacean expert from Hawaii, Dr. Joseph Mobley, to monitor the effects of the LFA on marine mammals.

17. Even at its full power (of 200 decibels), the low frequency active sonar system would in fact be 1/100th as loud as a jet engine, and not 100,000 times as loud as some media sources have suggested.