Military Debris Threaten Oceans

By Malini Shankar

BANGALORE, Apr 14 (IPS) – Military debris dumped into the world’s oceans are hazardous to coral
ecosystems, reefs, fish and marine wildlife, say experts, who also warn – in light
of the recent tragedy in Japan – that earthquakes and tsunamis could disturb
this debris and even wash it ashore.

“The tsunami from the Japan earthquake increased the likelihood of sea
dumped conventional and chemical weapons washing ashore as they rest at a
shallow depth of 200 metres in Choshi Bay of Chiba Prefecture in Japan,” said
Ryo Sato, marine researcher at Global Green, the U.S. affiliate of the NGO
Green Cross International.

The Baltic Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Pacific Ocean are
hotspots.

In the Philippines “Coron, Subic Bay and Leyte Gulf have the highest density of
planes and ships sunk during the Second World War, and numerous
shipwrecks and airplanes litter the seafloor in the reefs,” according to the
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Philippines.

“The U.S. Army dumped over 8,000 tonnes of chemical weapons off Hawaii,”
said Paul Walker, director of Global Green, at the recently concluded Fifth U.N.
International Marine Debris Clearance conference in Hawaii. Around 300,000
tonnes of chemical warfare agents were dumped in oceans from 1946 to
1965. Upwards of 400,000 gas filled-bombs and rockets float in U.S. waters.
40,000 tonnes of Conventional Weapons (CW) are in the Baltic Sea. 21,000
tonnes of CW agents float in Australian waters, and more than 6,600 tonnes
off the coast of Japan.

“Marine debris… adversely impacts marine life, destroys habitat and entangles
food for marine organisms and seabirds,” says Finn Longinotto, senior
programme fellow at Global Green.

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France conducted 137 undersea nuclear tests between 1975 and 1996 in
French Polynesia creating an artificial crater 140 metres in diameter –
disturbing one million cubic metres of coral and sand. The explosions injected
nuclear material into the carbonate rocks that will be released gradually into
the ocean. Earthquakes and undersea landslides will intensify release of the
radioactive material, affecting seafood, ocean currents, and rain bearing
clouds around the whole planet in the long term.

Residual nuclear material is negligible according to a study initiated by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the behest of the France in
1998.

According to a study undertaken by the University of Florida, missiles,
torpedoes, and submarines emit sonar waves leaving cetaceans like dolphins,
dugongs and whales hearing impaired – affecting their hunting ability, group
communication, migration patterns, and mating behaviour.

India’s armed forces have also destroyed fragile marine habitat and coral
ecosystems. In the Bay of Bengal, India’s Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) conducts missile tests in the middle of a turtle-nesting
site within the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary.

“DRDO is not supposed to carry out missile testing during the turtle nesting
season. However, they flout this rule despite regular forest department
objections,” charges Biswajit Mohanty, of the Wildlife Society of Orissa.

“In one recent incident, the missile misfired, resulting in the destruction of
the turtle nesting habitat in Nasi Island inside the Gahirmatha Marine
Sanctuary – a breeding ground for olive ridley turtles. The vibration coming
from missile launches being almost equal to seismic intensity can have an
impact on the fragile eggs, we still don’t know scientifically what happens as
an impact on the eggs,” Mohanty told IPS. “The DRDO is insensitive that the
state’s unique natural heritage – olive ridley turtles – might abandon the
nesting grounds if the missile activity disturbs them.”

The DRDO “have not disclosed the nature of debris littered in the sea,”
Mohanty added.

The government response: “DRDO takes due care to avoid any adverse effect
on eco-system while planning and conducting missile tests from DRDO
ranges. The launching pad has been designed in such a manner that it does
not affect the fauna and flora of that area or cause any adverse effect on the
environment.”

“The flares emanating from missile launch heat the habitat, and disorient the
turtles and hatchlings especially when they head to the sea,” says a concerned
Mohanty.

The DRDO however told IPS that, “All illuminated lights are placed in inverted
position with shades and flames coming out of missiles lasting less than a
minute, which do not affect the nesting of olive ridley turtles.”

The Indian Navy has also chosen the coral island of Netrani on India’s west
coast for “target practice,” V. N. Nayak, marine biologist at the post graduate
centre of Karnatak University in Karwar told IPS. “Netrani Island is home to
diverse fauna, enlisted both in the IUCN [International Union for Conservation
of Nature] Red Data List and the Indian Wildlife Protection Act’s Schedule
One.”

Naval exercises are a dire threat to the ecosystem, Nayak said. The large
number of bullets, bombs, missiles and torpedoes fired at the endemic
wildlife of the island and the seas cause mass mortality of fish and corals in
this ecosystem. “Target practice on endangered wildlife is irresponsible,” he
stressed. “Netrani Island is located under the Coastal Regulatory Zone 4 and
fishing zone.”

Netrani Island’s fauna includes the white bellied sea eagle, corals, coral fish,
whale shark, tiger shark, giant groupers, giant clam, dolphins, sea snakes,
crustaceans, reef sharks, stingrays, squid, sea cucumbers olive ridley turtles,
jelly fish, sea urchins, killer whales and edible nest swiftlets. The island is the
only place outside of the Andaman Nicobar Islands where edible nest swiftlets
live.

“Naval firing practices are periodically conducted on a 16-metre barren rock,
located close to Netrani Island,” the Indian Navy told IPS. “Such firing practices
have been conducted for the last six decades.” With chances of an outbreak of
hostilities stemming from the terrorist attacks in Mumbai “the necessity for
the Indian Armed Forces to remain combat-ready… at all times can hardly be
over-emphasised. It is precisely this realisation that has already led the
Karnataka Biodiversity Board to drop the proposal to consider Netrani Island a
Biodiversity Park.”

“Who is the enemy for the Indian Navy to bombard unarmed wildlife?” asks K.
S. N. Cikkerur, the additional director general of the police forest cell of
Karnataka, in Bangalore. Is the enemy the rare “Schedule One species listed in
the Wildlife Protection Act?” Cikkerur wonders.

16336526731883929
Neeraj Nanda

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