A Whale of an Idea

The Supreme Court's recent decision to allow the U.S. Navy to train in anti-submarine warfare off the California coast, despite the potential harm to whales, led the New York Times to express grave concern with the 5-4 decision, saying:

The Supreme Court showed extreme and troubling deference to the views of the military, deciding to lift two restrictions on the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast.

And what about the Times' "extreme and troubling deference" to the whales?

To make matters worse, modern diesel-electric subs are very quiet and hard to detect with sonar, particular in the waters of the Persian Gulf where high traffic adds to the background noise levels.

With the risk of military confrontation with Iran on the horizon, such training becomes all the more critical.