KAHULUI — At least 17 people attended a public hearing Friday night in Kahului to learn and to voice their concerns about the Navy's latest studies on its controversial use of sonar in Hawaiian waters, The Maui News reported.

The Navy said its recently released supplement to its draft environmental impact statement for the Hawaii Range Complex indicates that improved data collection showed that the Navy's actual sonar use is less than had been estimated in previous planning.

Nevertheless, testifiers at the public hearing urged the Navy not to use sonar in Hawaiian waters, where, in winter months, endangered humpback whales come to breed and give birth. They also asked Navy officials to do more to ensure that whales are out of harm's way when sonar is used in anti-submarine warfare.

"Once again, the Navy is failing to offer reasonable protection to our aquatic environment in Hawaii with this draft EIS, nor offer reasonable explanation why these practice sessions must be held in near-shore Hawaiian waters," said Kihei resident Mike Moran.

Moran ran down a list of mammal mass strandings that have occurred around the world, in which he contended that the Navy acknowledged sonar exposure was a contributing cause.

Moran added that the Navy refuses to offer "after-action reports" of sonar use such as time, day or location that scientists could use to determine a likely cause-and-effect relationship between sonar use and marine mammal strandings, injuries or deaths.

Speaking to a panel that included officials from the Navy and the National Marine Fisheries Service, testifier Richard Marks said he didn't like that the Navy was playing "war games" in Hawaiian waters where lands were "stolen" from the Hawaiian people.

"Can't imagine going into the ocean with sonar that can actually rupture their hearing," he said.

Bruce Douglas of Pa'ia asked Navy officials to use nonharmful sounds such as "head-jammer music" in their training area to scare away the animals before sonar is used.

He also suggested the Navy use low-power sonar to look for animals before beginning sonar exercises.

At Friday night's hearing at Maui Waena Intermediate School, people were also given a chance to watch an informational video on the supplement to the draft environmental impact statement, submit written testimony, and interact with biologists, scientists and Navy personnel.

The Navy is conducting public hearings statewide on the supplemental environmental study. It covers the Hawaii Range Complex, where Navy training and exercises are conducted.

The supplement is intended to be read in conjunction with the draft environmental studies published last summer. The studies are being done as part of a long-range Navy plan to ensure it has the training and testing facilities needed to be prepared to respond to threats to U.S. security.

The supplement improves the study with three major changes:

• It uses different a methodology for analyzing potential effects of midfrequency active sonar on marine mammals.

• It revises estimates on hours of sonar use.

• It provides a new, preferred alternative for the Navy's active sonar practices.

With the new alternative, said Capt. Dean Leech of the fleet environmental counsel, the Navy will maintain the current level of sonar training in Hawaiian waters because the Navy is no longer looking at tackling the most complicated anti-submarine scenarios.

In addition to maintaining current levels of sonar use, Leech said the Navy is still proposing to increase its other training, research, development, testing and evaluation in the Hawaii. That includes "increasing the capabilities" at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, he said.

Gene Nitta, a biologist who works for a Navy consultant, said what scientists know is that animals can hear sonar, and a "threshold shift" can occur in which animals may have a temporary loss of the ability to hear certain pitches of sound because of sonar. But the mammals are able to recover, he said.

Nitta said sonar has been identified as a possible reason for whale strandings, such as one in the Bahamas in March 2000, but it has not been singled out as the only possible cause.

The Navy has used sonar in Hawaiian waters at the same power levels and frequencies for more than 30 years, and Navy officials said there has been no proof that it caused any mass strandings of marine mammals.

For more information on the supplement to the draft environmental impact statement see: www.govsupport.us/hrc.

Written testimony may be submitted by April 7 to: Public Affairs Officer, Pacific Missile Range Facility, P.O. Box 128, Kekaha, HI 96752. Or send e-mail to: deis_hrc@govsupport.us.

For more Maui News, see www.mauinews.com.