With the aim to restrain the Navy's use of sonar, off the coast of Southern California to protect whales, on Wednesday the U. S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the environmentalists.

However, the debate in Washington State, where the Navy and environmentalists have argued over the use of sonar in naval exercises and its impact on marine mammals, including endangered Puget Sound killer whales; is not likely to get altered by the decision to allow the continued use of sonar.

"The high court made its decision as narrow as possible, so it shouldn't have impact on other cases," reported Richard Kendall, co-counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Back in 2003, midfrequency sonar signals off the San Juan, were emitted by the Everett-based guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup, which touched off heated debate between the Navy and environmentalists.

On Wednesday, Navy officials informed that they usually don't conduct the same type of exercises in the Northwest as they do in California.

On Wednesday through a statement, Navy officials said, "Some sonar training does occur on a smaller scale in the Northwest. But in those cases, the Navy adheres to 29 mitigation measures whenever it uses mid-frequency active sonar to minimize potential harm to marine mammals."