As more whales wash up on New Jersey’s beaches, more people question if there’s a link to surveys being conducted for offshore wind farms. Federal environmental officials confirm 23 dead whales have washed up on East Coast shores since December. Critics claim offshore wind development is to blame, but scientists say there is no evidence of a connection between the surveys and the recent rash of stranded whales.
Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Morris) and other state senate Republicans are asking for offshore wind-related surveys to be paused surveys for a month. They have an ally in one environmental group, Clean Ocean Action.
Aaron Rice, a Cornell University ecologist, whose work focuses on how whales and fish produce and perceive sounds in the ocean, said the techniques used to evaluate the seafloor aren’t deadly to whales and are not unique to New Jersey. “Seismic surveys are ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico, and yet you’re not seeing a rash of whale mortalities down there. Sonar mapping, that’s a really, really high-frequency signature that … the vast majority of whales won’t hear,” Rice said.
Paul Sieswerda, executive director of Gotham Whale, a New York-based research group, said debate over the possible cause of the whale strandings has grown toxic. “I’m very impressed, or dismayed, sometimes, about the kind of impact that social media has on the debate of issues like this,” Sieswerda said.
Sheila Dean, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, which is based in Brigantine, said, “Every single thing that we post goes immediately back to ‘we’re liars, we’re hiding the truth, we’re taking money.’ I think most of them are misinformed, but there are a few that we know are being slanderous. They’re doing this for a purpose. Not really sure what it is.”
