Sonar Against Whale MigrationImagine being in Baja California lying on the beach and along the horizon, you watch the first gray whale break the surface and launch into the air. I have personally seen this and it is a life changing experience. A whale this size can truly take your breath away. Whales migrate more than 6,000 miles each year in winter, just to mate in the warmer waters of the tropics. Even though it is amazing to see them arrive, the journey is not easy for them. Whales rely heavily on their hearing and use sounds to find food, friends, mates and even find their way throughout their lives. The fact is that human-made sounds destroy the hearing of these migrating whales, causing them to veer off course. The use of sonar (Sound Navigation And Ranging) in military ships, submarines and other vessels should not be allowed during migration periods in order to save whales in any ocean and keep them on course during their migration. Sonar is used in boats and submarines to be able to navigate any ocean. The use of sonar benefits submarines because the sound waves produced by the sonar scan the ocean floor, revealing obstructive objects in the way, and send this information back to the submarine. Some systems operate at more than 235 decibels, producing sound waves that can travel tens or even hundreds of kilometers of ocean (Lethal Sounds). This shows us how powerful these sound waves can be. The sound of sonar is only beneficial to humans and marine mammals such as whales suffer damage. The sounds produced can blast their hearing and cause them to veer off course during migration simply because they are trying to get away from the deadly noise. Sound waves amplify...... middle of paper ......The use of sonar has directly impacted the melon-headed whale and indirectly harmed the whaling industry, because the use of sonar has killed hundreds of melon-headed whales that could have been seen on an average whale-watching trip. While whale watching is spectacular to witness, let's delve deeper into the effects of sonar on the environment. Sound Navigation and Ranging has a warrant for whales and represents more than the cited work on “deadly sounds.” Natural Resources Defense Council:. Np, October 6, 2008. Web. November 14, 2013. “Navy training blasts marine mammals with harmful sonar.” » Earthly justice. Np, ndWeb. November 15, 2013. Black, Richard. "Whale watching 'worth billions'" BBC News. BBC, June 23, 2009.Web. November 16, 2013.Wildlife Conservation Society. “Mass whale stranding attributed to sonar mapping for the first time.” ScienceDaily, September 25, 2013. Web. November 16. 2013.