As the Marine Mammal Stranding Center awaits necropsy results on several dead whales that have washed up at the Jersey Shore, the non-profit group today denied allegations being made on social media that wind energy companies fund it.
In response to online criticism, the organization released its IRS 990 filing from 2021. Since the recent series of whale deaths at the Jersey Shore, the MMSC has maintained they will follow the science and not become involved in the ongoing political debate regarding the deaths.
So far, the MMSC has said it appears impacts with vessels have killed the whales, but lab results on tissue and blood samples have not been completed yet.
The delay in lab results and early declaration of vessel strikes have led many online who believe the deaths are related to an off-shore wind turbine to challenge the organization’s credibility.
“As our community continues to grapple with the recent surge in whale strandings, many of you have reached out with questions regarding how our work is funded and our role in the ongoing investigation,” MMSC said today. “The Marine Mammal Stranding Center has NOT accepted any funding from the wind energy companies. As a non-profit organization, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center is funded by donations, fundraisers, grants, and retail gift shop sales. As with all non-profits, our financials are public record.”
MMSC said large whale necropsies could take a day or more to complete.
“The work is grueling and dangerous, requiring a large team of people, each with a specific task, working together as safely and efficiently as possible to complete the examination,” the center said. “To assign blame before the scientific data is analyzed and interpreted would be premature, and could dilute our impact on championing changes on behalf of these animals in the future. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is approaching this investigation in a non-biased manner.”
Politicians and even some environmentalists are now calling for the state to halt the off-shore surveying being done off the coast of the Jersey Shore claiming sonar used during the surveys could be interfering with the creatures’ own biological sonar capabilities.
The reason there are so many whales and not dolphins with similar sonar capabilities is because dolphins typically migrate south of the Jersey Shore in the winter to the Carolinas.
Another possible cause for the whale deaths could be due to a possible viral transmission. In 1987 hundreds of bottlenose dolphins washed ashore. The MMSC found a virus had spread through the population causing the deaths.
It is still unknown why so many whales are dying off the coast of the Jersey Shore at this time.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has rejected calls for halting the massive off-shore wind farm project.
