The U.S. Navy Detonated A 40K Pound Bomb Off The Coast Of Florida — Triggering A 3.9 Magnitude Earthquake
I found out about this first on a TikTok conspiracy theory channel (don’t ask!) and to my utter surprise and horror, this isn’t a conspiracy theory. The U.S. Navy detonated a bomb off the side of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier as a test. Not only is this bad for the environment, but the strength of the blast registered as a 3.9 magnitude earthquake near Daytona, FL.
EcoWatch noted that marine mammal experts are deeply concerned over the potentially devastating effects of the U.S. Navy’s shenanigans. The blast registered as a magnitude 3.9 earthquake onshore. According to the U.S. Navy’s press release:
“Ford’s shock trials are being conducted off the East Coast of the United States, within a narrow schedule that complies with environmental mitigation requirements, respecting known migration patterns of marine life in the test area. The Navy also has employed extensive protocols throughout FSST to ensure the safety of military and civilian personnel participating in the testing evolution.”
Ecowatch noted that the region is home to various marine mammal species, including bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, and North Atlantic right whales. Although whales aren’t normally seen off the northern Florida coast during this time of the year, marine experts rightfully expressed their fears and worries over the harm this bomb probably caused.
https://twitter.com/Warship_78/status/1406601477435576321
The Guardian reported that the test, which is a full shop shock trial, is one of three planned blasts over the coming months. The article also interviewed Michael Jasny, who is the director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project. Jasny noted that, normally, the Navy uses much smaller detonations in sinking exercises.
“The Navy’s own modeling indicates that some smaller species of marine mammals would be expected to die within 1-2km of the blast and that some marine mammal species would suffer injury including hearing loss out to 10km of the blast. That gives some sense of the power of the explosives we are talking about.
“This is unfortunately a black box of an exercise. We don’t know how conscientiously the blast site was chosen, and we don’t know how effective the monitoring was before the detonation, so it’s hard to put a great deal of faith in the safety of marine life.
“A large whale might need to be within a few hundred meters of the blast to die, while a small mammal could be a couple of kilometers away.”
Jasny also pointed out that even if the animals survive the blast, the potential hearing loss would still pose a grave risk to species that use that sense to locate food and their companions.
The Navy claimed that the explosion was completely safe and the bomb was detonated to the side of the aircraft carrier because they were curious about the possible battle conditions it may face.
I do not need to tell you just how bad dropping bombs are to life in general, nor how bad this is for our oceans. However, we are most likely not the only ones doing this, and we won’t be the last as world governments continue to flex their military muscles.
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