A Nov. 12 Supreme Court ruling removing restrictions on sonar use off the coast of California will have no impact on the Navy’s decision to pursue sonar training in the Gulf of Alaska, according to a Navy spokeswoman.

“The Navy is preparing an environmental impact statement and has already held scoping meetings in Anchorage, Kodiak and Cordova,” Navy public relations specialist Sheila Murray said.

Murray said sonar training in the GOA currently occurs once a year, in sessions involving the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and Alaska agencies.

Training takes place in the Navy’s designated maritime activities area (MAA), 24 nautical miles from the nearest shoreline on the Kenai Peninsula.

Environmentalists claim that sonar, which locates enemy submarines by sending out pulses of sound and tracking the sound’s echoes, injures and kills marine mammals that are sensitive to sound. Research links sonar to mass strandings and critical injuries, including hemorrhages around the brain and vital organ lesions caused by nitrogen bubbles in the blood. Known as “the bends” to scuba divers, scientists hypothesize the affliction occurs when an animal surfaces too quickly when confused by sonar.

The most recent incident occurred in 2005 and involved 34 whales of three species stranding along the Outer Banks of North Carolina where the Navy was conducting sonar training exercises, according to the National Resources Defense Council.

NRDC, an environmental group, initially sued the Navy in the California suit.

A U.S. district court in California sided with the NRDC in February, issuing an injunction that required the Navy to shut down sonar whenever a marine mammal was seen within 2,200 yards of a vessel.

The Supreme Court ruled the California court had abused its discretion, citing lack of research and national defense priority.

Murray said the Navy is sensitive to GOA marine mammal safety and the MAA does not encroach on critical North Pacific right whale or Steller sea lion habitat.

“The Navy is concerned about the potential effects of active sonar on marine mammals,” Murray said. “At the same time, active sonar is the only effective means for the men and women aboard ship to defend against hostile submarine threats.”

The Navy adopted 29 protective measures for marine mammals, including employing night vision and trained lookouts, Murray said.

The Gulf of Alaska Environmental Impact Statement will be completed in summer of 2010 and encompass all of the Navy’s activities in GOA.

“Any training activities that are not analyzed in the EOS will not be conducted in the GOA,” Murray said.

The Navy received correspondence from 77 agencies, organizations and individuals regarding the GOA EIS. Most are concerned with marine mammal habitat. Of those, seven were made in person at the scoping meetings.