Did military sonar deafen these dolphins, cause this mass stranding [the biggest in the UK]

Military sonar has previously been linked to strandings of cetaceans elsewhere and is known to temporarily deafen dolphins.

However, the Ministry of Defence says that routine exercises including sonar activity had ceased 60 hours before the onset of the stranding and cannot therefore have directly triggered the event. It says it is prepared to work with researchers to further explore how its activities might affect cetacean behaviour.

SHOOT: Seems likely. Look if you go deaf and loose your ability to navigate you don't just instantly wash up on the nearest shore. You get disorientated, can't find your food, starve and then you wash up. 60 hours sounds just right. Just over 2 days of hell.

clipped from www.newscientist.com An investigation into the UK's largest ever mass stranding of common dolphins has identified military activity as the most probable cause – although no single activity can be definitively linked to the stranding. Twenty-six common dolphins died after becoming stranded in the Fal Estuary in Cornwall, southwest England on 9 June, 2008, while a similar number were refloated by volunteers. An investigation into the cause of their deaths (pdf format) by Paul Jepson at the Zoological Society of London and his colleagues has ruled out a lengthy list of possible causes: However, documents obtained under the UK Freedom of Information act have provided researchers with unprecedented access to military records of navy activity in the area. While there is no evidence of physical injury to the dolphins caused by sonar, "what we are left with is a mass stranding and a naval exercise – we have ruled out pretty much everything else," Jepson says.