Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WHALES WINNING IN NAVY’S WAR GAMES
Pod defies rescue operation
A STUBBORN pod of whales will be herded away from a NATO naval exercise again after they twice swam back to their original position.
Up to five bottlenoses returned to the Scottish loch and there are fears warships’ sonar systems could cause them distress.
Vo l u n t e e r s , Mi n i s t r y o f Defence personnel and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue service were yesterday preparing a last-ditch attempt to encourage them back out to sea.
A ma ssiv e NATO n av al exercise, with aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth as the centrepiece, is due to begin in Loch Long tomorrow.
The MOD wants to divert the pod out of the mouth of the River Clyde before then.
Julia Cable, of BDMLR, said: “We know there are five around but they split up so we cannot be sure how many are in the area.
“We will try to match up individuals and will look through images to try to piece together which have been where and when. They seem to be splitting into two groups.”
The exercise will see Queen Elizabeth protected by seven Royal Navy destroyers, frigates and other ships, forming a carrier strike group aimed at fighting on both the surface and the air. On the carrier’s deck are F35-B fighter bombers from the RAF and US Marine Corps.
Militar y sources said the exercise, involving 14 nations, is likely to go ahead as scheduled.
An MOD spokesman said: “An environmental risk assessment i s c a r r i e d o u t b e f o re a ny underwater task, to minimise potential risk to marine life.”