* Whale deaths linked to US Navy

WASHINGTON — Greenpeace on March 13 called on US President Bill Clinton to immediately halt planned NATO exercises, including weapons testing, off the coast of Florida in light of evidence connecting the US Navy to the killing of up to five endangered northern right whales.

Right whales are the most endangered great whale, numbering only 320 worldwide.

Between early January and late February, five right whales were found dead near their calving grounds just offshore from several bases in Florida and Georgia, most notably Mayport Naval Station and Kings Bay Submarine Base.

Preliminary examinations found one whale with damaged eardrums, possibly from an impact or an underwater explosion, and another with lung damage consistent with a bomb blast. An additional whale was found near a gunnery practice range, and others discovered at sea mysteriously "disappeared".

From GLW issue 226