Several environmental groups and Native American tribes said on Thursday that they sued the Obama administration for giving permits to the Navy to test underwater sonar capabilities along the West Coast, which could potentially disrupt—or kill—thousands of whales, seals, and dolphins.

Environmental group Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and several other groups filed suit against the National Marine Fisheries Service in the U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California, claiming it was unlawful for the Navy to expand upon its program, according to a statement.

The coastal areas off California, Oregon, and Washington are used by the Navy for training exercises, including anti-submarine training that involves missiles, surface-to-air artillery, bombs, and other weapons systems.

“These training exercises will harm dozens of protected species of marine mammals,” including killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises, stated Steve Mashuda, an Earthjustice attorney.

The National Marine Fisheries Service gave the Navy a five-year contract to conduct the training exercises in the Northwest Training Range Complex, which could harm or kill marine mammals and other life, the group said. It added that sonar has been blamed for whales beaching and stranding themselves in several places. In one incident, around 200 whales stranded themselves in Hawaii’s Hanalei Bay in 2004.

“Whales and other marine mammals don’t stand a chance against the Navy,” stated Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The group wants the Navy to inspect the areas where they are training first before they go through with it. It says that the “litigation is not intended to halt the Navy’s exercises,” reads the statement.

The Navy did not release any counterstatement or issue any rebuttal to the lawsuit. According to The Associated Press, a Navy spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday, saying it had not looked at the lawsuit yet.