A critical letter from a fisheries expert in May 2022 raised serious red flags about the siting of offshore wind turbines in southern New England waters.
Authored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries’ Chief of Protected Species Dr. Sean Hayes, the letter revealed the risks that offshore wind farms pose to the marine environment, emphasizing the threat to highly endangered right whales.
“Right whales are one of the most endangered marine mammals, with fewer than 350 animals remaining in the population,” Hayes states in the letter. “Right whale distribution in the southern New England region occurs in and adjacent to offshore wind energy leases.”
The letter came to light as dozens of whales have washed ashore along the mid-Atlantic seaboard in the past three months, the most recent in New Jersey on March 2.
Many are concerned that offshore wind projects are to blame, alleging that noise from the sonar used to map the ocean floor is confusing the whales and leading them to strand.
NOAA says the strandings are not unusual.
It has reportedly documented a high number of deaths of humpbacks, North Atlantic right whales, and minke whales dating back to 2016 in what it calls an “unusual mortality event.”
Officials deny that offshore wind development is a contributing factor.
“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,” NOAA officials said in a public statement in February.
But that contradicts the Hayes’ letter, which was written in May 2022.
“The development of offshore wind poses risks to these species …” the letter states.
“These risks occur at varying stages, including construction and development, and include increased noise, vessel traffic, habitat modifications, water withdrawals associated with certain substations and resultant impingement/entrainment of zooplankton, changes in fishing effort and related potential increased entanglement risk, and oceanographic changes that may disrupt the distribution, abundance, and availability of typical right whale food.”
Opponents who were already skeptical were not surprised.
“The letter from Sean Hayes [proves] that NOAA, Orstead, and Atlantic Shores [the wind development companies] knew that there was a problem but they didn’t tell anybody,” New Jersey Congressman Jeff van Drew told The Epoch Times. “They lied and said there was no problem.”
Scathing Report
Sent to Brian Hooker, lead scientist at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in May 2022, the letter only became public in November 2022.Van Drew contends that the letter was intentionally suppressed so that offshore wind development could continue along the Atlantic seaboard.
“It only became public after a journalist obtained it using the Freedom of Information Act,” he said. “I can see why. There’s nothing in that letter to be proud of.”
According to the letter, the impact on marine life will persist for the lifetime of offshore wind infrastructure.
“Unlike vessel traffic and noise, which can be mitigated to some extent, oceanographic impacts from installed and operating turbines cannot be mitigated for the 30-year lifespan of the project, unless they are decommissioned.”
Whales and Wind
“The unknown impacts of these offshore wind projects raise serious concerns, especially with whales washing ashore near where surveying is now taking place,” Van Drew said.He describes the whales as the proverbial “canary in the coal mine.”
“Their deaths alert us to how offshore wind will harm not just whales, but all kinds of marine life and water quality, as well as hurting the tourism and fishing industries” he added.
“The scale and speed of these fast-tracked offshore wind developments—with thousands of turbines slated to be installed—call into question whether due diligence was done to investigate their effect on the environment, fisheries, tourism, and other critical factors that make our Jersey Shore the unique treasure that it is,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), speaking at a “Save the Whales” rally in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, on Feb. 26.
“The fact that these whale deaths are occurring concurrently with the ongoing sound surveys and the underwater noise generated by acoustic vessels—even before construction and pile driving begin—cannot be ignored,” Smith said.
Smith noted that he is speaking with his colleagues in Congress to advance his bill requiring an investigation into the environmental review process for offshore wind projects.
BOEM has leased more than 1.7 million acres to offshore wind developers across the North Atlantic, with 1.7 million more planned in the Central Atlantic.
As Vice-Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Van Drew plans to convene hearings on the matter in the coming weeks with the goal to place a moratorium on all existing projects and prohibit all future projects.
“We need to slow these developments down until we can carefully investigate to make sure they don’t cause more harm,” he said.
