Active Sonar + Marine Life

Originally Posted by Drebbel

Target ? Or the navy using their equipment and exercising on a contact they found ?

The way I see it is that if you are not going to attack it it was probably not a target after all and there was (afterwards) no need at all to use that sonar.

Every navy that has these systems which have such an effect on species that are so high on the list of animals the general public loves should be really worried and make a huge effort in searching for alternatives.

I apologize if I should have used the word 'contact' ISO target. I'm a SH3 guy and everything is a target.

As far as the plausability I don't think the scenerio is out of reason. Wasn't it a couple of months back that a report about a Chinese sub was alleged to have creaped into a US Carrier Battle Group? The reports of the Russian subforce being a wreck doesn't preclude the sortie of at least a few boats probing US defences.
China could also be probing.

I thought that tactics precluded the use of active SONAR under most situations. Letting the contact know they have been detected seams like one of those situations. No one can tell how long the contact was monitored for its passive signature B4 they were pinged. Its not called the 'silent service' for nothing.

As you know the book 'Blind Mans Bluff' is illuminating as to the deception inherent in sub sevice.