Navy — Increased Sonar Testing in Local Waters

The Navy is planning to increase their testing of underwater weapons — including Sonar — in the Hood Canal, Puget Sound and off the Washington coast. There will be an environmental review process and a public comment period.

For security reasons, the Navy won’t give any detailed information about the tests they plan to conduct. As one person said, “How can the public provide meaningful recommendations if we don't know what they're doing in the first place?”

Some people are afraid that marine life and commercial fishing could be jeopardized by these tests. There was a huge outcry against the Makah for killing a whale. Massive sonar testing could be much more hazardous to whales. Whatever damage is caused by these tests wouldn’t be up close and personal like the Makah hunt was. Will there still be a public outcry?

I’m in favor of national security as much as the next person, but are these additional tests necessary? What do YOU think?

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And in OTHER NEWS: Port Angeles — for at least the second time this year — has had another occurrence of that mysterious weather phenomenon that only happens here. Whatever this exact occurrence is, it’s the opposite of rain. When it rains, the rainfall total goes up. When this mystery phenomenon occurs, the rainfall total goes down. Neat, huh?

P.A.’s total rainfall was 6.80 inches for awhile, up through last Friday’s edition of the PDN. Now, according to yesterday’s and today’s editions, that total has shrunk to 6.57 inches. OOOKAY.

Yes, there's more to life than keeping track of the rainfall totals. It’s just an ingrained habit after years of living in California. With the constant fear of water rationing and fire danger, I always looked at the weather page for forecasts and to see how much precipitation we’d gotten; to see how bad the following summer was going to be.