The message below, an open letter from James Taylor, Pierce Brosnan
and Jean-Michel Cousteau, is from the Natural Resources Defense Council's website: http://www.nrdc.org. Blessings to you all as we dance into action! Olivia Corson

Dear Friend,

The three of us have never teamed up like this before. But we all share
something in common: a deep love of the ocean and marine mammals. That's
why we're very disturbed by a U.S. military program that, if approved, will
soon be bombarding millions of whales and dolphins around the world with
intense noise.

You may have read about the U.S. Navy's "Low-Frequency Active" (LFA) sonar
program. The military has been testing this new, high-powered system in
secret for years. Now, the Navy wants to deploy it across 80 percent of our
planet's oceans. LFA sonar is designed to detect enemy submarines by
flooding vast expanses of the oceans with sound. Leaving aside the military
wisdom of this sonar -- which is still in dispute -- the environmental
dangers are becoming increasingly clear.

Here's the problem: LFA noise is billions of times more intense than that
known to disturb whale migration and communication. Whales and dolphins
depend on their sensitive hearing for survival. To put it simply, a deaf
whale is a dead whale. Deafening noise from the LFA system will interfere
with the vital biological activities of marine mammals. Scientists fear
that long-term exposure to LFA could push entire populations over the brink
into extinction.

Inevitably, there will also be marine mammals unlucky enough to swim too
close to LFA loudspeakers. Imagine an acoustic wave so powerful that, even
at substantial distances, it can destroy your hearing, cause your lungs or
ears to hemorrhage, or even kill you.

We've already seen a glimpse of the resulting carnage. Last year, whales
from four different species stranded themselves and died on beaches across
the northern Bahamas during a Navy military exercise. All but one of the
dead animals examined by researchers had suffered hemorrhaging around the
inner ear -- the telltale sign of acoustic trauma. The U.S. Navy's own
report concluded that it is "highly likely" that the stranding was caused
by the use of mid-frequency active sonar. But despite this tragic event,
the Navy now wants to deploy LFA, the most extensive active sonar system
ever devised.

We know that different frequencies will affect different marine mammals and
that the lower the frequency, the farther it penetrates the ocean. We
believe it is unconscionable to expose marine mammals around the world to
more high intensity sonar. If you agree, then please join us in taking
immediate action; it will take you only a few seconds.

Just go to http://www.nrdcaction.org/index.asp?step=2item=515. The Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Ocean Futures Society (OFS) have set
up this web page to make it easy for you to send electronic messages of
protest to your U.S. senators and representative. Congress is now deciding
the Navy's funding for next year -- tell them to "Turn Off LFA Sonar" by
cutting off its funding.

And please forward this message to your family, friends and colleagues.
NRDC used web activism to help generate a million messages of protest to
Mitsubishi and, just last year, stopped the company from destroying the
last unspoiled birthing ground of the Pacific gray whale.

Congress cannot ignore millions of us. Together, we can keep whales and
dolphins safe from high-powered sonar.

Thank you for your time and your concern.

Sincerely yours,

James Taylor
Pierce Brosnan
Jean-Michel Cousteau


olivia@bodytales.com

http://www.bodytales.com