How would the salt evaporation facility threaten the whales?
The industrial salt evaporation plant may destroy the whales’ habitat by changing the beneficial characteristics of the lagoon through noise, physical disturbances, and shipping traffic. The proposed project includes more than 116 miles of pumps, evaporation ponds, processing facilities, and a 2km long pier. First, the water must be pumped out of the lagoon by a battery of loud diesel engines that would run constantly. As whales live in an acoustic environment, they rely heavily on their auditory abilities. The noise pollution invoked by the pumps and the boat traffic may seriously disorient the whales or introduce stress, which may complicate the baby’s delivery or nursing. The pumps will pull warm water away from the lagoon at the constant rate of 6,600 gallons per second. The precious salinity and temperature of the lagoon that is so vital to the newborn calves would change as currents of cold, less-salty water circulate in from the ocean. Next, the water that is pumped out of the l
