[Maursault]

> Sonar is a likely cause for whales beaching themselves

While I join the outrage, evidence of whale beachings predate the development of sonar by some 14K years.

[iancmceachern]

And evidence of bison killings predate bison being nearly killed off. It's more about sonar causing more whales to beach themselves, not that it didn't happen ever in nature, but that our actions cause it to happen way too often. This is a weird argument.

[Maursault]

It was not an argument, thus the qualifying first 5 words of my comment. I hate sonar, in anger accept that it beaches whales, but acknowledge that whale beachings predate sonar.

[serf]

the earth makes all sorts of horrible noises across the spectrum.

I think that it's unfair to use that as a defense of sonar unless you're certain that the number hasn't been trending upwards since the beginning of sonar usage.

if whale navigation is somehow affected by strange very high or very low noises it's not outside the realm of possibility that there have been plenty of whales beached simply due to tectonic/planetary movement inducing confusion.

[Maursault]

You're preaching to the choir. I think there should be a century-long moratorium on all commercial, industrial and military activity in the oceans.

[david38]

It’s a cause. Likewise, people have been dying long before the development of guns.

[Maursault]

They likely weren't dying from gunshot wounds.

[zaptrem]

They were, however, dying from organ failure and blood loss.

[Maursault]

Also, some drowned, some burned to death, some fell from a great height, some were trampled, some buried alive. Hardly any were killed by metaphor.

[pvaldes]

As it happens with us, whales can die by several different reasons.