Battle lines are being drawn along the Jersey Shore, where scientists from Rutgers University hoping to launch a month-long mapping study are being opposed by environmental and business interests alike.

The researchers assert the area is key to better understanding how rising sea levels could impact the Eastern seaboard, in particular whether such events, predicted by most if not all global warming models, might hit the region gradually or in more dramatic episodes.

The scientists plan to bombard a swath of the seabed off Long Beach Island with sound waves for a month this summer to unlock the secrets of the area's composition and formation.

Environmentalists, who might otherwise rally behind climate change-related study, say they are deeply concerned that the ongoing sound production will ultimately harm whales and other marine mammals and negatively impact New Jersey's summer seafood and tourism economy, according to a report by The Daily Journal, based in Vineland, New Jersey.

Environmental activists say they also worry that if allowed to go forward the proposed research project could make it easier for more aggressive seismic testing, in search of oil and natural gas deposits.

"New Jerseyans are tenacious about protecting their Jersey Shore -- from pollution to Superstorm Sandy," said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, according to The Daily Journal. "Science doesn't get a pass."

Jimmy Lovgren, a spokesman for the Fisherman's Dock Cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, said his group is equally concerned the testing would scare away fish, and kill fish larvae, scallops, and other sea life, though "we don't have a lot of scientific proof," he added.

The scientists counter that the experiments will not harm the animals; that said, the project will likely miss an early June start, presuming the work is allowed to go ahead, because the researchers are awaiting needed permission from the National Marine Fisheries Service to "take," or, adversely affect, up to 26 species of marine mammals, including whales and dolphins.

The planned disruptions wouldn't directly cause injury or death, but they could be significant enough to change animal behavior -- for instance, inducing a whale to change course, stop feeding, or stop communicating with other whales.

The fisheries service initially recommended approval of the "take" application, but agreed to a 30-day extension of a public comment period.

Assuming the research commences, "I predict we're going to see things we have never seen off the coast of New Jersey," said Gregory Mountain, the Rutgers University geologist who is the principal investigator for the study.

On the other hand, if the project can't go forward, the researchers say the environmental data they seek will remain buried and it will be much more difficult to predict how changes in sea level will affect the coast.

Opposition to the project has been joined by nine environmental groups, including Clean Ocean Action, Save Barnegat Bay and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The groups launched a campaign this long holiday weekend to educate beachgoers about the dispute. That effort includes plans to fly plane-towed banners with their message from Beach Haven to Sandy Hook.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has also commented on the issue, with John Gray, acting director of the office of the deputy commissioner, stating the entire study area is used by commercial and recreational fishermen.