ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is rejecting local environmentalists and political concerns that a massive wind farm project off the coast of the Jersey Shore has anything to do with the recent increase in deaths of whales along the Jersey Shore.
In recent weeks, as many as seven dead whales have washed ashore at the Jersey Shore, leading some environmentalists to speculate the work being done by off-shore wind energy survey vessels are to blame.
The NOAA, a federal government agency that acts as the steward of America’s ocean waters, disputes those allegations.
“At NOAA Fisheries, we work with our partners to analyze and understand the causes of death when we are able, following the science and data. At this point, there is no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales,” the agency said. “There are no specific links between recent large whale mortalities and currently ongoing surveys. We will continue to gather data to help us determine the cause of death for these mortality events. We will also continue to explore how sound, vessel, and other human activities in the marine environment impact whales and other marine mammals.”
NOAA says the mass killing off of whales has been noted since 2016.
Since January 2016, NOAA Fisheries has been monitoring an Unusual Mortality Event for humpback whales with elevated strandings along the entire East Coast.
“To date, there are 178 humpback whale mortalities included in the UME. Partial or full necropsy examinations were conducted on approximately half of the whales,” the agency said. “Of the whales examined, about 40 percent had evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the greatest human threats to large whales.”
Benjamin Laws, deputy chief for the permits and conservation division with the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, said the wind farm survey boats are using sonar but not at levels that would interact negatively with marine mammals in the area.
“There are no known connections between any of these offshore wind activities and any whale strandings, regardless of species,” Laws said. “There is no information that would support any suggestion that any of the equipment that’s being used in support of wind development for the site characterization surveys could directly lead to the death of a whale.”
He went on to say that claims of the ships using sonar in the area to map the ocean floor are prohibited from using levels of sonar that could be fatal to whales.
“This has not been proven,” Laws said.
Republican lawmaker Vince Polistina says until we know for sure, all activities should cease.
“We should suspend all work related to offshore wind development until we can determine the cause of death of these whales, some of which are endangered,” Polistina said. “The work related to offshore wind projects is the primary difference in our waters, and it’s hard to believe that the death of 7 whales on our beaches is just a coincidence.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy rejected Polistina’s request saying his massive offshore wind energy project has nothing to do with the surge in whale deaths in recent weeks.
“They have said it’s been happening at an increased rate since 2016, and that was long before there was any offshore wind activity,” Murphy said last week. “It looks like some of these whales have been hit by vessels.”
The Sierra Club agreed with Murphy.
“Blaming offshore wind projects on whale mortality without evidence is not only irresponsible but overshadows the very real threats of climate change, plastic pollution, and unsustainable fishery management practices to these animals,” said Sierra Club New Jersey director, Anjuli Ramos-Busot.