TAKE ACTION: Stand up for whales and dolphins

Help protect marine mammals!

Dear folks, It’s time for the annual renewal of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), but this year, the U.S. Navy is asking for a waiver that could seriously harm our nation’s marine wildlife. The Navy has proposed a plan to eliminate a core provision of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), which would allow the military to obtain permits to kill or seriously injure marine mammals with very little oversight. Speak out now to protect marine mammals like whales and dolphins! The MMPA has protected marine mammals for 45 years. But if the proposed amendment goes through, the Department of Defense would no longer have to renew its permit applications every five years to ensure that its operations aren’t hurting or killing animals at unsustainable rates. Marine mammals, especially whales and dolphins, can be severely injured and even killed by military activities like high-intensity sonar and underwater explosives testing. But, our nation’s defense needs can be met while still following the current MMPA rules and implementing science-based decision-making. In fact, the MMPA has already been amended to apply less restrictive marine mammal protection standards to military readiness activities. This dangerous provision in the NDAA would not increase military readiness, but it would undermine marine mammal conservation in every region of the United States – from the East Coast, to the Gulf of Mexico, to the West Coast, and to the waters off Alaska, Hawaii and the U.S. territories. The Navy is proposing to reduce the oversight of its programs at a critical time for several marine mammal populations – including the Southern Resident orcas of the Pacific Northwest and the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. We cannot trade away the health of our wildlife. Act now to tell Congress to protect the MMPA! Sincerely, Jane Davenport Senior Staff Attorney Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife leads the pack when it comes to protecting wild animals and plants in their natural communities

Defenders of Wildlife | 1130 17th St NW, Washington, DC 20036 | defenders.org Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. Photo credit: Dolphin (c) Nancy Nehring/istockphoto.com © Copyright 2018 Defenders of Wildlife