Slashdot Mirror
Underwater Sonar Linked To Whale Deaths
An anonymous reader writes "A group of scientists have confirmed a link between the sonar used by Exxon Mobil to map the ocean floor for oil and the death of melon-headed whales. From the article: 'A spokesman for ExxonMobil said the company disagrees with the findings. "ExxonMobil believes the panel's finding about the multi-beam echo sounder is unjustified due to the lack of certainty of information and observations recorded during the response efforts in 2008," spokesman Patrick McGinn told AFP in an email. He added that observers employed by the Madagascar government and the oil giant "were on board the vessel and did not observe any whales in the area."'"
Look, as somebody who actually works in this industry and sometimes on this shit, multibeam sounders operate on very high frequencies, way over what whales can perceive. It's like blowing a dog whistle, the vibrations are there but you can't perceive it. What's hilarious here is that the Slashdot circle-jerkers are already screaming EXXON...BAAAAD! Nobody likes big oil, everytime you go to the pump you are fellating some rich, filthy Arab.
But do you know what kind of sonar does make whales' ears bleed? The big fucking' spherical and cylindrical arrays you find in the tips of the bulbous dicks of ships and submarines. Assuming sonar is causing whales to beach, it's probably due to naval maneuvers or shipping routes of larger cargo ships rather than a multibeam echosounder. Have you even seen a fucking multibeam? The transducer array is roughly the size of a shoebox.
Idiots. I'm surrounded by goddamn idiots!
-- Ethanol-fueled