Expert says claims that war games will harm thousands of animals are ‘overblown’
That assessment was backed by Brandon Southall, a former fisheries service researcher who researches at the University of California at Santa Cruz. “I think the numbers” citing potential harm presented by the Navy and NMFS “are overestimates,” he said. “Overall, I think the concerns are being amplified because the conservation groups are interested in getting people’s attention, and they get it by saying these animals are all going to die,” Southall said. Read the rest here 06:03
The “expert”, Brandon Southall, says the number of mammals that will be harmed is “overestimated”. He gets funding for his research projects with his Southall Environmental Associates, Inc. http://sea-inc.net/about/, from NAVSEA, or Navy Warfare Centers, http://www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/default.aspx
and also from Marine Acoustics, Inc. http://www.marineacoustics.com/projects/jip.html, which is an oil and gas industry funded group, and from NOAA and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute among others, http://sea-inc.net/socal-brs/
Below is an example of (Brandon) Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.’s work and the sources of funding for his “research”:
“Addressing the Effects of Human-Generated Sound on Marine Life:
An Integrated Research Plan for U.S. Federal Agencies”
Contributing Federal Agencies (in alphabetical order):
Marine Mammal Commission (MMC)
Minerals Management Service (MMS)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE)
U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Navy (USN)
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
U.S. Department of State (DOS)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
http://sea-inc.net/assets/pdf/mmnoise_IATF_finalreport.pdf
So why would Brandon Southall do anything other than agree with the Navy spokesman’s statement that the numbers of mammals harmed are overestimated? Would he…bite the government and energy industry hands that feed him and his family members?
Hell no, he wouldn’t! But he’ll bite everyone else’s hands that depend on the ocean while he does the propaganda work for his funders as they decimate some of the world’s richest fishing grounds for more oil profits (seismic blasting “geological exploration”), wind industry graft (thousands of 600 foot monstrosities), and war games (detonations).
And why is it only the mammals that are a concern for the enviros anyway? What about the fish? They’re always so worried about the “greedy fishermen overfishing”. What about this acoustic threat to the fish? Doesn’t a major source of protein and our national food security matter when the fish are up against a real threat? One that happens to be perpetrated by the enviros’ funders?