Today's U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Navy's use of sonar in southern California waters may affect an expected decision by federal Judge David Ezra in Hawaii.

There was no immediate comment from the Pacific Fleet, which is appealing an earlier ruling by Ezra involving the use of mid-frequency sonar during naval wargames held in Hawaiian waters.

In February, Ezra restricted the use of mid-frequency sonar by U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups during those exercises. However, the Navy, in its appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in June, argued that a new environmental impact statement for the Hawaii Range Complex, which extends from as far south as Johnston Island and past Midway Atoll to the northwest, limited the number of underwater naval games and set restrictions on the use of sonar in Hawaiian waters.

The appeals court directed Ezra to clarify his decision.

During last summer's Rim of the Pacific multi-national naval war games, scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service and the Navy tagged more than 30 marine mammals with listening and movement sensors to study how the whales responded to mid-frequency active sonar used by U.S. and coalition navies to find and track submarines. A report on that study is due next month.