Even whales and dolphins can get the bends (decompression sickness) — if high-power sonar disorients them and they rise to the surface too quickly. From Sonar May Cause Bends Disease in Dolphins:
Sonar may cause a type of decompression sickness in whales and dolphins similar to the ‘bends’ in humans, scientists said on Wednesday.Although it seems an unlikely illness for the aquatic creatures, researchers from the Zoological Society of London and the University of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands have found bubbles in the tissue of stranded whales and dolphins similar to the effects of decompression sickness (DCS) in humans.
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Scientists suspect sonar signals disorientate the animals forcing them to come up to the surface too quickly, which could cause the creation of damaging nitrogen bubbles in their tissue.
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Autopsies by Spanish scientists on 10 of 14 beaked whales stranded in the Canary Islands after a multinational military exercise last year also showed evidence of DCS in the animals.The creatures started to appear on the beaches about four hours after the start of the mid-frequency sonar activity.
“Beaked whales have the highest levels of nitrogen in their tissues normally because they dive so deep and that would be consistent with why it is the beaked whales that are most severely affected by sonar exercises,” Jepson said.