Reef Court

Reef Court (2001)

The United States Navy has been stopped from testing a powerful sonar system in most of the world's oceans after a federal judge ruled that the booming sounds used to detect enemy submarines could "irreparably harm" whales, dolphins and fish.

[...]

Scientists discovered that bursts of intensive sound can tear the delicate air-filled tissues around mammals' brains and ears, resulting in hemorrhaging and death.

The navy said its newest system, which uses low-frequency waves, has never been implicated in mass strandings, in which injured whales beach themselves.

The navy wants to comb 75 per cent of the world's oceans with the low-frequency active sonar, which is designed to "light up" enemy submarines with acoustics, much the way a floodlight can illuminate an intruder in a dark backyard.

[...]

Neither the navy nor the National Marine Fisheries Service has said whether it will appeal against the judge's decision.

Should the appeal go to a "higher court"?