Navy allowed to use sonar, whales found to have no ears

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the navy can use high-powered sonar while running exercises off the Southern California coast. In Judge Andrew Kleinfeld's majority opinion he wrote, “After reviewing all of the evidence presented before this panel it is the court's view that whales have no ears and, as such, cannot possibly hear, or be harmed by, the nautical sonic disturbances in question.”

Dissenting judge Milan Smith Jr. argued that the “possession of ears or lack-there-of does not solely determine an organism's ability to detect acoustical signals.” In a heated court room exchange Judge Smith Jr. scolded Judge Kleinfeld for his narrow minded views stating that “even if you think whales do not have ears other marine mammals clearly do, such as otters and polar bears." An irritated Judge Kleinfeld responded that those animals “also have legs and can get the hell out of the ocean if they damn well want,” and then proceeded to quickly and repeatedly pat his ears with his palms while chanting, “I can't hear you! I can't hear you!” until the session's termination.