Several environmental and animal-welfare organizations filed a federal lawsuit late last month in response to the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) recent approval of the U.S. Navy’s five-year plan to test and train off the Hawaiian and Southern California coasts. The Navy and NMFS have said that the training — chiefly active sonar and explosives — will likely result in injuries and possibly even deaths of thousands of marine mammals. The groups allege that NMFS didn’t evaluate less harmful alternatives and that the public has a right to review and comment on those alternatives.
