Governor Murphy dismisses wind farm whale tales as political theater, disinformation

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February 22, 2023
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TOMS RIVER, NJ – Nine large whales have washed up dead at the Jersey Shore in a two-month span, sparking outrage across shore communities over survey work being conducted to build an off-shore wind energy farm.

Murphy’s team went as far as calling those trying to connect the whale deaths to off-shore sonar mapping surveys in the affected areas as spreaders of disinformation.

Despite requests from environmentalists and elected officials at the Jersey Shore to conduct a study to see what is killing off so many whales this winter, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said today that those requests are nothing more than political theater.

“The results of (federal) investigations have been unanimous and unmistakable: at this time, there is no evidence of specific links between recent whale mortalities and ongoing surveys for offshore wind development,” Murphy’s press team said in a statement.

No federal investigations have been conducted regarding the recent rash of dead whales at the Jersey Shore this winter.

“We know that many residents, both in our shore communities and across the state, share our genuine concern for marine life and its survival,” Murphy’s office said in a statement to NJ.com. “But we also know that there are those out there who are motivated not by a concern for our environment but by their own political ideologies and opposition to the very efforts that will preserve and protect our environment for generations to come.”

Murphy’s administration refuses to halt the off-shore surveying and have ignored requests to conduct scientific research into the increased whale deaths in recent weeks. They even said those who claim the deaths could be connected to the off-shore work as spreaders of disinformation.

“It is precisely this spread of disinformation that has made the incorporation of climate change education into our school curricula so critical,” Murphy’s office said, according to NJ.com.

Murphy’s office has not responded to requests for comment by Shore News Network since taking office in 2018.

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