USA TODAY International Edition
Whale deaths, windmills spur controversy
Growing group of mayors at odds with experts
A growing group of New Jersey politicians have called for an offshore wind activity moratorium, despite multiple scientists saying whale deaths off the Northeast coast this winter aren’t elevated compared to previous years and show no link to offshore wind.
The latest salvo came Tuesday. A group of New Jersey mayors sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation seeking an “immediate moratorium on all offshore wind activities until an investigation is held by federal and state agencies that confidently determine these activities are not a contributing factor in the whale deaths.”
Twenty- two large whales have died along the U. S. Atlantic coast since Dec. 1, including 16 humpback whales between North Carolina and New York. Experts say that’s not unusual because large whale deaths have been high in the region for years, with a dozen each in New Jersey and New York in 2019, and 22 total in the two states in 2020.
However, the latest deaths have become a Republican cause célèbre for the first time. Individuals and organizations with ties to the fossil fuel industry have denounced the clean energy expansion efforts of President Joe Biden and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
U. S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green and FOX News commentator Tomi Lahren have commented about the whale deaths and FOX commentator Tucker Carlson aired a series of segments on the deaths.
Groups that have advocated for whale protection for decades say the whale deaths are being exploited to advance a political agenda.
What do scientists say about the whale deaths?
“The number of whales that have stranded this winter is in no way unusual,” said Andy Read, a whale scientist and professor at Duke University’s Marine Laboratory. There’s “absolutely no evidence” linking the deaths to offshore wind projects, Read said.
The Marine Mammal Commission, an independent federal agency, reiterated Tuesday that the deaths are among a series of unusual mortality events for whales that began in 2016 and 2017.
“Although these strandings have generated media interest and public scrutiny, this is not an unusually large number of whales to strand during winter,” the commission stated.
Federal scientists with both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also have stated there’s no evidence the wind activities authorized so far could be fatal to whales.
Though whale deaths in the region are consistent with deaths in recent years, they’re also a reflection of conservation successes.
More humpback whales, more vessel collisions
The humpback population is growing
in the Gulf of Maine and Northwest Atlantic. When animal populations recover and grow, deaths also increase, from human and natural causes, Read said.
As humpbacks have increased in number, studies show younger whales aren’t migrating with other humpbacks to the Caribbean in the winter, and instead remain along the mid- Atlantic and New England, making them more vulnerable to ship strikes.
The region includes some of the nation’s busiest shipping channels. New York Harbor is the nation’s second busiest, and the St. Lawrence Seaway is among the world’s top 10 busiest.
In cases where a cause of death can be determined, Read said, about 40% of humpback deaths show traumatic, blunt force injuries from vessel collisions.
New Jersey politicians seek moratorium
The mayors are concerned about acoustic surveys taking place offshore, according to a news release distributed by the Warwick Group Consultants. The surveys were permitted by NOAA and BOEM.
“While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these projects may already be having on our environment,” the letter stated.
In total, 30 mayors signed the letter, 12 of whom had also sent a letter earlier in February. All but six are Republican.
Tuesday’s news release also claimed the U. S. Coast Guard at Barnegat Light had reported additional dead whales floating at sea. However, Coast Guard representatives at Barnegat Light and at the Coast Guard Delaware Bay sector office said Tuesday they have no reports of any whales floating offshore.
At least one member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Rep. Chris Smith, is also concerned. Smith, a Republican who has been supportive of wind in the past, introduced a bill Friday that would require the Governmental Accounting Office within 60 days to undertake a far- reaching study of the federal environmental review processes for offshore wind projects.
In a response to Smith’s proposal on Tuesday, American Clean Power spokesman Jason Ryan said the offshore wind industry conducts extensive impact studies to protect marine life, working “hand in hand” with federal officials.
Have whale deaths set a record?
Five humpback deaths have been reported in New Jersey since Jan. 1, matching the five humpback deaths reported in the state for all of 2019. However, over the past eight years, humpback deaths in New Jersey and New York fluctuated up and down from year to year with one state or the other seeing more whale deaths.
In 2020, the two states saw 22 dead whales, with 14 of those humpbacks.
Large whale deaths along the Atlantic coast since 2007, have averaged 52 a year since 2007. The 43 deaths last year, including the December deaths, were the lowest since 2015.
Anyone who sees a dead or injured whale is asked to call the NOAA Fisheries hotline at 866- 755- 6622.