WHALE OF A MYSTERY

It's long been a source of bewilderment to marine scientists: Why did 12 Cuvier beaked whales beach themselves and die along a 38 km stretch of Greece's southeast coast during a two-day period in May of 1996? Alexander Frantzis, an oceanographer at the Natural Center of Marine Research in Athens, puzzled over the incident for more than a year before he hit upon what he believes to be the cause: during that period, the NATO research vessel Alliance conducted tests of Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS), a system that can track submarines by sending out underwater sound waves. Since marine mammals use their hearing to navigate the seas, Frantzis contends, bursts of noise from sonar systems could cause the animals to go astray and become stranded on the shore.

Conservation groups such as Greenpeace think the scientist is right. In response to their protests, NATO brought experts together in Italy last month to study the evidence against LFAS. Win Verboom of the Netherlands, who co-chaired the panel, says its soon-to-be-released report will find the theory that sonar kills whales to be "possible but not proven." NATO plans to protect marine life by developing guidelines on its practice of bombarding the sea with sound.

LOOK WHO'S SAVING THE PLANET

Before being drafted to rescue the earth from a Texas-size asteroid in the movie Armageddon, oilman Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) hardly seems interested in environmental preservation: he hits golf balls at a Greenpeace protest boat from his perch on a drilling rig in the South China Sea.

A GOOD DEAL FOR WOLVES--OR FOR THE HUNTERS?

If removing the gray wolves of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin from America's Endangered Species List, as U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt proposes to do, is good news for the animal, then why are many of its advocates so angry? They fear a return to open season on wolves. "There is something really wrong with having an animal jump from endangered to game status," says Carlyn Berg, a Minnesota conservationist. "It's only a matter of time before that happens."

GETTING THE LEAD OUT

SLOW PROGRESS Lead in the atmosphere is nasty stuff. Absorbed into a child's bloodstream, for example, it can impair the development of a young brain. That's why the U.S. phased out the use of leaded gasoline in the 1980s. Too bad many other nations didn't follow suit. Europe is only now getting around to legislation prohibiting leaded fuel--and those laws won't take effect until 2000. China has just struck a blow for cleaner air by ordering the lead out in several big cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. But a surge in the number of Chinese cars could quadruple lead emissions over the next 20 years--unless there's a nationwide ban on this toxic gasoline ingredient.

WHO'S LAGGING BEHIND?
Percentage of gasoline sold that contains lead

Japan -- 0%
Brazil -- 0%
Canada -- 0%
Germany -- 2%
Britain -- 32%
China -- 40%
Mexico -- 44%
Australia -- 55%
Philippines -- 90%
Indonesia -- 99%

Sources: The World Bank; World Resources Institute