Fourteen whales beached themselves and eight of them died soon after the Navy conducted sonar exercises off the northern Bahamas on March 15. The Navy said yesterday that there was no evidence to link the whale deaths to its sonar tests, but enviros called for the suspension of the exercises. Marine biologist Ken Balcomb of Earthwatch: “A whale beaching in the Bahamas is a once-in-a-decade occurrence. … The fact that it coincides with the military exercises cannot be just coincidental.” The National Marine Fisheries Service has sent investigators to the area.
