The U.S. navy has some cause to smile now, after a federal court of appeals overturned an earlier stay on its use of high-powered sonar in training exercises off the Southern California coast. Though temporary, the reprieve is being welcomed by officials in the Navy.

The high energy sonar is used to track down enemy submarines in a conflict situation, and the efficacy of this method can now be determined. Earlier, a Los Angeles court had ruled such sonar use invalid, as it posed grave environmental risks.

Earlier, scientists have found links between the use of high powered sonar and whale deaths. Studies have indicated even mid-frequency sonar can cause whales to be stranded and display panicky behavior.

The decision to allow the navy to proceed with its use of high powered sonar came after a panel of judges voted 2-1 for it. The earlier decision preventing the use of such sonar was handed down by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper keeping in mind the environmental aspect.

The current panel said that decision did not give importance to the more important task on hand, of having a navy that was efficient and prepared to deal with the enemy. U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge Andrew Kleinfeld ruled while the safety of the whales was important, so was the safety of our soldiers and the country.

However, Friday’s ruling is not final and binding. The arguments will continue in the court of another judge in the same court on November 5. That hearing will decide which ruling would prevail, the current one or the former one.

Earlier, the Natural Resources Defense Council had brought the complaint against the navy, and had won an injunction barring the navy from using the sonar. Lawyers for the National Resources Defense Council said the current ruling would not stand for long, and were looking forward to the next round of hearings.

The U.S. navy has praised the current decision, as it allows them to start the sonar exercises. The navy, on its part, had earlier said a large number of countries, at least 40 and including Iran and North Korea, use diesel propelled silent submarines that were hard to detect without the mid-frequency sonar.

The navy’s Pacific Fleet spokesman Mark Matsunaga said the navy already had measures in place to ensure the mammals were not harmed during exercises. He said the navy had been conducting sonar-related exercises for the past four decades, without injury or harm to even one marine mammal.