According to the AP, " the Defense Department [yesterday] exempted the Navy from complying with the Marine Mammal Protection Act for the next two years so sailors may practice tracking submarines with sonar." Cara Horowitz, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that there was no reason for the Navy to delay in taking immediate and "commonsense" measures to protect the animals--"adopt a larger safety zone around its ships, reduce the power of sonar at night when marine mammals are harder to see and thus protect, and avoid training in rich marine mammal habitats." Maybe we can negotiate a treaty with the Chinese that any conflict over Taiwan would be fought only during the daytime and in waters devoid of marine life.