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Aloha,

We have launched a new effort to prevent deployment of low frequency active
sonar in Earth's oceans.

The unique aspect of this case is that we are seeking the right for the
Cetaceans to sue directly.

The press release below is going out now:

EMBARGOED FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2002, 9:00 a.m. Hawai`i Time

CONTACT: Lanny Sinkin (808) 966-5086
P. O. Box 944
Hilo, Hawai`i 96721

There will be a press conference on the steps of the Federal Court House
in Honolulu, Hawai`i at 9:00 am on Wednesday, September 18 to discuss the
filing of the lawsuit described below.
A copy of the Complaint is available at
http://CetaceanCommunity.com. This web site also contains additional
information and links to other sites relevant to the issues raised by the
suit.


On Wednesday, September 18, the Cetacean Community, composed of whales,
dolphins, and porpoises, filed suit in federal court against President
George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.
The suit alleges that President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld are in
violation of the National Environmental Policy Act because they have failed
to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for deployment of Low
Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS) during threat and warfare conditions.
The suit seeks legal recognition for Cetaceans to file their own suit,
rather than having to rely on Human plaintiffs to file suit on their behalf.
The suit alleges that LFAS represents a significant threat to the
Cetacean Community because this sonar can disrupt critical behaviors,
injure, and even kill.
The suit asks the court to enter an injunction to prevent the use of the
sonar during threat and warfare conditions until the President and Secretary
of Defense prepare an EIS for use during such conditions.
The U.S. Navy prepared an EIS for use of one LFAS system, known as
SURTASS LFA, during routine operations. That EIS specifically excluded use
during threat and warfare conditions.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) granted the
U.S. Navy's application for permission to harass or otherwise injure marine
mammals during a five year deployment of SURTASS LFA for routine operations.
The NOAA imposed various conditions on the permit to limit the potential
injury to marine mammals. Those conditions, however, will not be imposed
during threat and warfare conditions.
In seeking legal recognition for Cetaceans, the suit states:
"We, the Cetacean Community, come to this Honorable Court to offer what
we consider a gift, not a complaint. The gift is the opportunity to expand
the United States legal system to permit the Cetacean Community to bring
suit on its own behalf.
We consider this opportunity a gift because in granting standing to our
community, you will be taking an evolutionary step for your own species.
Extending Human recognition and respect to another species continues
the Human process of moving beyond absorption with consumption of the
Earth's resources to a broader view of Human responsibility as a steward and
co-inhabitant of this planet with others. The passage of the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was a similar step in that direction."
The suit alleges that boat motors, oil and gas exploration, Navy
explosive tests, sonar currently in use, and other noise introduced into the
oceans by Humans is a cacophony of sound that is creating an intolerable
bedlam. The suit further alleges that introduction of LFAS will only make
matters worse.
The Cetaceans note that: "While humans primarily use sight, we primarily
use our hearing.
For us, broadcasts of low frequency active sonar are the equivalent
of a powerful searchlight shining on you."
The Cetaceans raise the question: "Could you feed, converse, navigate,
engage in courtship, or otherwise pursue your normal activities, if someone
filled your visual environment with very bright light?"
The suit notes that pollution, over-fishing, global climate change and
other Human activities are also putting the ocean
environment under stress.
The attorney is Lanny Sinkin, a federal practice attorney on the
Island of Hawai`i. Mr. Sinkin filed two suits in 1998 and a third suit in
2000 challenging different aspects of the SURTASS LFA program. Information
about Mr. Sinkin and those earlier suits is available at the web site.
According to Mr. Sinkin, "this suit offers an opportunity for the Human
community to examine its relationship with other species sharing the same
planet and the damage Humans are doing to the environment and other species
particularly within the ocean environment."
The lawsuit is an educational project of Rainbow Friends Animal
Sanctuary on the Island of Hawai`i. Mr. Sinkin and his wife, Mary Rose
Krygsman-Sinkin,
founded the Sanctuary two years ago. The Sanctuary now has more than 80
dogs and 125 cats in residence (along with one guinea pig, one fan tail
pigeon, and five chickens). Information about the Sanctuary is available
through http://www.rainbowfriends.org.

Please direct all inquiries to either the telephone number above or
lanny@whaleattorney.com.

Because Mr. Sinkin will fly to Honolulu to file the suit, he will
not be available at the (808) 966-5086 number on Wednesday. You can ,
however, leave a voice mail message at that number. From Honolulu, Mr.
Sinkin will check that number for messages
and return calls as soon as possible.

Note: Because the filing of this suit is intended to be at least
educational and because those working in media are a primary source of
education, this press release is being distributed far more widely among the
media than would normally be the case.
=======================
Lanny and Mary Rose Sinkin
P. O. Box 944
Hilo, Hawai`i 96721
(808) 982-5110 (Rainbow Friends Animal Sanctuary)
FAX: (808) 982-6160
Email: light@ilhawaii.net

WEST GREENLAND BELUGAS ON THE BRINK: A new scientific assessment
presented to North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission warns that
continued killing of Beluga whales in West Greenland waters at present
levels will "likely lead to extinction of these white whales within 20
years" says ENS 9/12. Whale conservationists say that NAMMC, made up
of whaling nations Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Danish Faroe
Islands is a "regional rival" allegedly set up to undercut the
International Whaling Commission, and "has it eye on a humpback whale
hunt in the near future."