© APA military Sealift Command ocean surveillance ship is seen underway in 2009. The Navy plans to increase ocean warfare exercises, conduct more sonar tests and expand coastal training areas.
Training areas already are established along most of the continental U.S. coastline, so the Navy is seeking federal permits to broaden an existing range off the Pacific Northwest and dramatically expand exercises and sonar use in the Gulf of Alaska.
The service also plans to increase training substantially in the Pacific around the Mariana Islands.
The Navy estimates in federal permit applications that its activity in those areas will impact about half a million sea mammals each year, including seals, sea lions and whales, some of which are endangered.
The effects range from brief interruptions in normal feedings to significant injury and, in very rare instances, death.
Already, 2.3 million marine mammals are affected similarly each year by the Navy's training on its ranges on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Navy studies show.
