To: President Donald Trump
Stop the Navy's War on Whales and Dolphins Now!
President Obama: Navy sonar exercises are killing whales again! More whales died this spring during joint exercises involving the U.S. Navy off the coast of Crete. As commander in chief, you have the power to stop this deadly assault on whales WITH THE STROKE OF YOUR PEN. We demand that you immediately sign an executive order directing the Secretary of the Navy to halt sonar trainings in whale habitats around the world!
Why is this important?
For years, Navy sonar has been killing whales and dolphins on coastlines around the world, including the United States, the Bahamas, the Canary Islands, and Greece.
Now it’s happened again! In April, beaked whales mass-stranded and died during U.S. Navy joint exercise offshore of Crete – the 4th time that sonar trainings have caused catastrophic strandings in these same waters.
The killing must stop!
A year and a half ago, more than half a million of us joined our voices in protest by signing a petition to deny the Navy permits for expanded sonar and explosives exercises in whale habitats off U.S. coastlines. The U.S. Fisheries department rubber-stamped the Navy’s request and issued the permits anyway.
Now it time for us to go directly to the top of the command chain and demand that the President invoke his constitutional powers to stop this senseless slaughter. Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution gives the President, as Commander-in-Chief, direct command over the army and the navy, as well as responsibility for "taking care that the laws are faithfully executed."
With a stroke of his pen, by Executive Order, the President can direct his Secretary of the Navy to cease all sonar training in whale habitats. And he can direct the head of National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with enforcing the laws intended to protect whales, to revoke the Navy’s permits to conduct sonar trainings until it puts real safety measures in place.
The Navy has reluctantly agreed to conduct comprehensive Environmental Impact Statements on all its U.S. coastal ranges – but not on foreign ranges where it trains. That’s why tragedies like the mass stranding in Crete are doomed to be repeated – unless you and I take action and convince the President to end the U.S. Navy's war on whales and dolphins, once and for all!
I promise to print out every petition and personally deliver them to the White House.
For more information, please visit our website at http://whaleanddolphinwatch.org/
Now it’s happened again! In April, beaked whales mass-stranded and died during U.S. Navy joint exercise offshore of Crete – the 4th time that sonar trainings have caused catastrophic strandings in these same waters.
The killing must stop!
A year and a half ago, more than half a million of us joined our voices in protest by signing a petition to deny the Navy permits for expanded sonar and explosives exercises in whale habitats off U.S. coastlines. The U.S. Fisheries department rubber-stamped the Navy’s request and issued the permits anyway.
Now it time for us to go directly to the top of the command chain and demand that the President invoke his constitutional powers to stop this senseless slaughter. Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution gives the President, as Commander-in-Chief, direct command over the army and the navy, as well as responsibility for "taking care that the laws are faithfully executed."
With a stroke of his pen, by Executive Order, the President can direct his Secretary of the Navy to cease all sonar training in whale habitats. And he can direct the head of National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with enforcing the laws intended to protect whales, to revoke the Navy’s permits to conduct sonar trainings until it puts real safety measures in place.
The Navy has reluctantly agreed to conduct comprehensive Environmental Impact Statements on all its U.S. coastal ranges – but not on foreign ranges where it trains. That’s why tragedies like the mass stranding in Crete are doomed to be repeated – unless you and I take action and convince the President to end the U.S. Navy's war on whales and dolphins, once and for all!
I promise to print out every petition and personally deliver them to the White House.
For more information, please visit our website at http://whaleanddolphinwatch.org/