TRENTON, N.J. — July 8, 2014 — Scientific research that involves blasting the ocean floor with sound waves can go ahead despite an effort by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration to halt it, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The project, years in the making, emerged suddenly last week as a major public issue in New Jersey as commercial fishermen and environmentalists spoke up about worries that sea life could be harmed by the project.
The research by scientists at Rutgers University and other institutions is being done with federal funding and from a federal research vessel. It seeks to study sediments that have accumulated at the ocean floor during periods of sea-level change over the last 60 million years. The plan is to complete a three-dimensional map of part of the ocean floor that may offer clues as to what could happen as the ocean rises.
Since July 1, researchers have been using air guns that fire every 5.4 seconds and emit about 250 decibels of sound. The plan is to operate the guns continuously for 30 days along with slightly lower-decibel pings being sent out every second. The researchers have agreed to suspend the blasts when sea mammals are spotted in certain areas.
Reuben Schifman, a U.S. government lawyer, said it is critical to do the research now for logistical reasons. "This is a time when the researchers are available, the boat is available, the weather is favorable, the endangered right whales are not in the area," he told the judge Tuesday.
He also contended there will not be any lasting harms to sea life.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Republic