Happy 4th of July!?

According to Associated Press writer, DEEPTI HAJELA, in a news article today, New York City is adding a new twist to their Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza. Most people enjoy fireworks aimed at the sky (duh), but someone decided to try something that's never been done before -- aim the fireworks at the WATER!

As someone who has protested the U.S. Navy's sonar blasts that have been killing whales and other marine mammals, I am alarmed that nobody has thought of the ramifications of detonating pyrotechnic shells on the surface of the East River. Are they nuts????

In Indonesia and other parts of the world, there is an industry that collects live tropical fish for salt water aquariums. Some of these "fisherman" use small explosions to stun the fish so they are easier to catch. Of course the fish may or may not survive this fast-but-deadly method that is condemned by most companies that buy from these type of fisherman.

Compared to these small explosions to stun fish, the impact of aerial fireworks on the water must multiplied by thousands. Maybe even ten times that.

Haven't you ever felt your chest reverberate from the sound of fireworks? And that's just sound traveling through the air from an explosion far up in the sky. Those so-called duds were even louder! As a kid, I learned to cover my ears whenever a shell popped with a tiny burst of white light and no sparkles.

But sound travels faster and farther in water than in the air. The impact on marine life from the East River fireworks could reverberate for miles in all directions.

Then I wondered . . . maybe the river is so polluted that there aren't any fish left in the river to kill. I had heard rumors that the waterways around Manhattan were such an environmental disaster area that it was possible to light the oil slick on fire.

Of course, that is undoubtedly an urban legend.

Maybe this latest story out of New York is just another urban legend. Maybe the fireworks aimed at the water are not as lethal as they sound.

I can only hope.

Just in case, I'm going to contact the good people at Snopes.com. Maybe this was all just a very bad practical joke on the news media.