First of all, as a scuba diver, the name of this article series “Deep Dive” makes me instinctively want to write about diving – So I will.
First of all, as a scuba diver, the name of this article series “Deep Dive” makes me instinctively want to write about diving – So I will.
Sustainability Week was just a couple of weeks ago, and I can’t help but think about our lovely students working on Campaigns. From the Raytheon Campaign to Eco Societies Ethical Careers on campus Campaign, the combination of themes – plus the diving – reminds me of a paper I once wrote on the effects of military bodies on the environment. More specifically, the effects of the British Navy on Deep Diving Beaked Whales.
In that review on military SONAR in Scottish waters revealed how mid-frequency naval testing -from the Minches to Faslane - disrupts whale migrations, communication, and even causes fatal strandings such as the 2011 Kyle of Durness event, where 39 pilot whales died from decompression sickness after exposure to military sonar. These are not isolated tragedies; they’re echoes of a deeper imbalance between our military technologies, our politics, and the natural systems that sustain us. Despite “voluntary” NATO guidelines, sonar continues to overlap with some of Scotland’s most critical marine habitats.
Now – I get I’m really deep diving into whales and the environment but my article is about sustainability and this is a Deep Dive, so there’s my excuse. Besides, whales aren’t just innocent victims, they’re key players in the planet’s climate system. Every dive, every migration, every tonne of whale biomass helps lock away carbon deep in the ocean. Their nutrient-rich waste fertilises plankton, boosting carbon capture and feeding entire marine ecosystems.
That contradiction feels closer to home than ever nowadays, as the Raytheon campaign makes headlines and the Eco Society’s Ethical Careers Campaign asks us to reflect on what “sustainability” really means when our research, our institutions, and our job prospects are tied to defence contractors that contribute to this type of environmental destruction. Can we really separate sustainability from ethics, or conservation from accountability?
As students, we have more power than we think. We can question partnerships, share research, support the Ethical Careers Campaign, and push for transparency across every level of the university. However, we can also get involved in activities like Sustainability Week to pull together collective action that can make a change.