The development of offshore wind farms as a solution to our desperate need for renewable energy has become a hot topic, and endangered whales have gotten caught up in it.
So far this season, sixteen humpback whales and one right whale have washed up dead along the shores of Delaware, New York, and New Jersey. These deaths have led the mayors of 30 coastal towns in New Jersey to call for a moratorium on wind farm survey work.
“While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these projects may already be having on our environment,” the mayors wrote in a letter to President Biden and the state’s Congressional delegation.
Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service say necropsies show that the whales died from vessel strikes. Anti-wind farm advocates say the noise created by underwater surveying has put stress on the whales and impaired their ability to navigate, resulting in their deaths. This may be a possibility, but the current evidence doesn’t support it.
The Marine Mammal Commission, an independent scientific agency that advises the federal government, says there is no credible connection between the underwater survey work for offshore wind farms and the whale deaths along the East Coast. John Hocevar, the director of Greenpeace’s oceans campaign, says the argument that the surveying is killing whales is “just a cynical disinformation campaign.”
NOAA has admitted that the high mortality rate is a bit unusual but says “there is no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could cause mortality of whales, and there is no specific link between recent large whale mortalities and currently ongoing surveys.” The agency recently reported that 40 percent of the dead whales showed clear evidence of either a ship strike or entanglement with fishing gear. Many other dead whales were inaccessible for necropsies.
Historical data confirm that the number of whale strandings is not that unusual. According to NOAA, 10 or more humpback whales have stranded and died each year since 2016. In 2017, 34 whales stranded on the East Coast — twice the number of this year’s strandings to date. The humpback whale population in increasing throughout much of its range, says NOAA. Doesn’t it stand to reason that more whales living also means more whales dying?
Although I am vehemently opposed to massive windmills obstructing my view when I look out to sea, I believe the bigger threat from wind farms is potential damage to marine life as the bottom sediment gets dug up and turned over in the surveys. I also believe these windmills will create potential navigational hazards. I have seen evidence of hydraulic and lubricating oil seals failing on operating windmills, putting a steady stream of oil into the water.
Each offshore substation that collects the power from windmills and sends it to land uses 79,000 gallons of transformer oil per year, along with 52,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 4,900 pounds of sulphur hexafluoride, and 317 gallons of hydraulic oil. That could end up in the water if a ship collided with it. The stations also pump out heated sea water, which is used to cool motors. That would raise the surface temperature of the sea and could adversely affect sea life in the vicinity.
Noise pollution is a valid concern; there’s a lack of credible evidence either way on that score. But I am not convinced the recent whale mortality is the direct result of windmill surveys. Until I see some science that links the two, I’m neutral on that question.
