Offshore wind sparks debate over whale deaths on the East Coast 

As offshore wind turbines rise from the waters off the Northeast coast, so do questions about their impact beneath the surface.

In Southern New England, offshore wind turbines first went up in 2016 off Block Island.

A year later, the National Marine Fisheries Service declared an Unusual Mortality Event for humpback whales along the Atlantic Coast as whale deaths surged from Maine to Florida.

Numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, show 28 dead whales washed ashore in Rhode Island and Massachusetts combined last year, compared to 16 in 2023, two in 2022, and 18 in 2021.

While some scientists say there’s no evidence connecting wind development to the recent spike in whale strandings, others argue the research simply isn’t there to make that call.

“To say that they are not or there’s no evidence is completely disingenuous,” Diving Scientist Michael Lombardi said. “Our hypothesis is that those are connected in a very real way, and the increased mortalities is linked to this construction activity.”

After working for years in underwater construction, Lombardi believes the rush toward offshore wind raises serious concerns.

“The entire enterprise is being treated like an experiment rather than an industrial activity, and it should not be an experiment,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi points out that laws around industrial development in the ocean are designed to limit environmental impact, something he believes current offshore wind projects aren’t doing.

“The laws are written in such a way that the steps toward industrialization should be immediately adjacent to existing industrial activities so that you limit your reach, you limit your impact” Lombardi said. “We’ve never had industrial development on the continental shelf off the northeast coast.”

But other scientists don’t share the same concerns.

University of Rhode Island Emeritus Marine Research Scientist Robert Kenney says there’s no evidence to back claims that wind turbines have contributed to whale deaths.

“For one thing, you know what can cause the death of a whale. There have been a few whales killed by very loud sounds, but it was dynamite explosions,” Kenney said in an interview with the I-Team in February.

What Does the Science Say?

The impact of wind turbine construction has been studied in seals and porpoises off Europe.

A study by Wageningen University & Research found concerns begin with an increase in ship traffic during wind turbine construction, which can increase the chances of entanglement and ship strikes.

Then, there’s the loud pile driving.

The study found seals fled the area during construction, at least temporarily affecting their ability to feed.

However, large baleen whales aren’t common near wind farms in Europe, which means construction on the East Coast of the U.S. will be the first true test for the mammals, something Kenney said makes him a little nervous.

“We have never had wind farms in an area where there are lots of whales before,” he said.

Necropsies conducted by marine biologists like Sarah Callan at Mystic Aquarium have identified ship strikes, entanglements, and infectious diseases as the leading causes of whale deaths, not noise-related trauma.

“Since 2016, ear trauma has not been found to be a cause of strandings for marine mammals within our coverage area,” Callan said.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean noise can be ruled out.

Ear bones, which could reveal hearing damage, haven’t been collected in every necropsy, leaving key questions unanswered.

“Ear bone collection has not occurred for every whale necropsy due to various factors which include the decomposition state of the animal, availability of resources, location of the stranding, and personnel safety,” Callan said. “For example, if a large, deceased humpback whale were to wash up in a shallow, rocky shoreline, it may not be safe or feasible to conduct a full necropsy at that location and the carcass would need to be moved to a different beach.”

Of the 244 dead humpbacks found on the Atlantic Coast since January of 2016, necropsies were performed on about half of them, according to NOAA.

Sound Concerns

Another factor that needs to be considered is what’s driving the increase in ship strikes.

Scientists have noted whales are sticking around the East Coast for longer than ever before due to warming waters.

More whales could mean more ship strikes.

Others argue the sound of pile driving during wind turbine construction could change the behavior of whales, potentially also leading to more ship strikes.

Windmill developers are granted incidental harassment authorizations in their contracts with the government that circumvent the Marine Mammal Protection Act by allowing a certain level of “harassment” to marine mammals, including injury.

According to the Incidental Harassment Authorizations, Level A harassment can “injure a marine mammal,” while Level B harassment can cause “disruption of behavioral patterns,” including migration, feeding, breathing, and nursing.

Wind turbine developers are allowed a certain number of Level A and level B “takes” during construction.

Acoustics consultant Robert Rand measured noise levels during pile driving off the coast of Nantucket.

He recorded sound levels around 180 decibels from five miles away, which he says is comparable to a fighter jet flying overhead.

“The noise levels that I measured had all of the best available noise controls in place and it was still incredibly loud,” Rand said.

While federal agencies like the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management require mitigation efforts, such as soft starts and acoustic deterrents, there are no restrictions on maximum decibel levels.

“The only reliable noise control for noise sources like this is sufficient distance, and the problem here is they are using these noise sources inside endangered species waters, they have no distance,” Rand said.

Observers are hired to ensure no marine mammals are in the area during pile driving, but even that system has flaws.

“At night, it’s very difficult to see species even on the surface. If the species are below the surface, they’re not going to see them,” Rand said.

According to a 2023 Protected Species Observers report for SouthCoast Wind, 88 marine mammals were exposed to noise levels that could potentially trigger behavioral changes during construction, including three fin whales, one minke whale, one humpback whale, 42 bottlenose dolphins, 40 common dolphins and one harbor seal.

No Level A takes were authorized for any species.

A Polarized Issue

The debate over offshore wind is deeply divided, and many experts have partnerships with one of the sides.

Institutions like the University of Rhode Island and Mystic Aquarium receive funding from wind energy companies to conduct research around the impact of wind turbines, which is a requirement wind companies must follow to construct turbines.

In August of 2024, URI announced a three-year, $2.5 million grant from Ørsted to monitor biodiversity and address historically lost or abandoned fishing gear surrounding Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind, which includes traps, nets and fishing lines.

Mystic Aquarium was awarded a $1.25 million grant from Ørsted and Eversource in 2021 to support a multi-year research partnership involving Revolution Wind.

Through the partnership, their scientists will conduct research on the impact of offshore wind turbines on marine life, including long-term studies on the health, behavior and population trends of sea creatures in areas affected by offshore wind development.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lombardi’s opinions have appeared in legal actions opposing offshore wind, though he won’t profit from those cases.

Meanwhile, many scientists argue that climate change, the issue wind turbines are meant to combat, remains the biggest long-term threat to marine life.

Mystique Aquarium is currently working to determine whether warming waters have any correlation with an increase in infectious diseases in whales.

As for finding a definitive answer on whether wind turbines will hurt marine mammals in the long term, we may have to wait several years for the research.

“So far, we haven’t seen an impact,” Callan said. “That’s not to say in the future maybe we will, but that’s our job is to collect the scientific data and facts.”

People like Rand worry that a wait and see approach is a dangerous game.

“The whales and other marine species cannot speak for themselves,” Rand said. “They rely on the agencies tasked with protecting them to actually protect them. We don’t see that happening effectively, and that needs to change.”