N.J. to appeal ruling on ocean sound testing

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration intends to appeal a judge’s ruling that allowed scientists to go ahead with blasting sound waves in the ocean for research.

Research could harm ocean wildlife and that, in turn, could affect New Jersey’s fishing and tourism industries, representatives of the state said.

The decision to appeal came Tuesday evening, hours after a federal judge ruled the blasting could move forward. The judge rejected the state government’s argument that it was excluded from commenting on the blasting plans.

He said he would halt blasting for a day if the state appealed to a higher court.

Researchers from Rutgers University and other institutions want to map what happened to the ocean floor in times of sea-level change.