The 1970s represent a formative decade for me, growing from childhood through my teens. I have so many memories, some good, some much less so, as I started to take an increasing interest in the world around me. Miners’ strikes, the referendum on continuing EEC membership, the glorious summer of 1976, the Vietnam war, the Winter of Discontent, punk rock and much more. One of my most vivid memories, however, is of the brave campaign fought by Greenpeace to save the whale, to bring an end to commercial whale hunting. Time and again the Davids of Greenpeace pitted themselves against the Goliaths of commercial whalers. Greenpeace has just cause to be proud of its work in helping to bring about a ban on commercial whaling, and its website tells the story here.
Fast-forward half a century, however, and we find a rather different story. So far as Greenpeace is concerned, whales are under threat from three main challenges – plastic in the oceans, deep sea mining, and climate change. In addition, Greenpeace says that “[p]ollution, noise, fishing, shipping and habitat loss also put them under pressure.” All of which is probably true (though given that whales have the entire oceans to roam, representing two thirds of the globe’s surface, I reserve judgement on the threat from climate change).
In the last few years I have noticed what certainly looks like a significant upward trend in an old phenomenon – whale strandings. The other thing I have noticed is that these often seem to occur in locations where offshore wind farms have been constructed or where survey work is taking place to ascertain whether the locations are suitable for wind farms. Of course, correlation is not causation (not necessarily, anyway) but the remarkable coincidence between increased whale strandings and wind farm developments is such that one might have thought that environmentalists generally, and Greenpeace specifically (in view of its proud track record in helping to protect whales) would be looking at this development with a jaundiced view and questioning whether or not there might be a connection.
One might have thought that, but one would be wrong. Instead, the reverse is the case. Not only is Greenpeace not wondering whether there might be a worrying nexus, rather they are going out of their way to give wind farm developers a free pass, and to insist that there is absolutely no connection whatsoever. Worse still (if it’s possible for anything to be worse), they also seek to label those who raise the possibiity of a connection as the purveyors of lies and disinformation.
The wheel has turned 180 degrees. Back in the 1970s commercial whalers were killing whales. That fact was undeniable, and so the brave warriors of Greenpeace put themselves between the whales and those who would kill them. Half a century later, whales are once again dying in alarmingly large numbers. The cause is uncertain. Rather than contemplate all possible causes, Greenpeace instead throws itself behind its new certainty – the religion of climate change, which trumps all else, including whales apparently. Wind farms (according to what passes for the logic) are vital to prevent climate change. Thus wind farms are good, and those who oppose them are bad. Also, if wind farms are good, they cannot possibly do harm, therefore they must be defended, whatever the cost.
In the last six months or so, Greenpeace has posted a couple of pieces on its website that deal with this issue. On 15th February 2023 it produced this under the heading “New report: Whales in danger as clock ticks towards deep sea mining”. Fair enough, so far as it goes, but its sub-heading reveals where Greenpeace is on the issue: “In the wake of baseless claims that offshore wind is a threat to whales, a new peer-reviewed report published today by the University of Exeter and Greenpeace Research Laboratories finds that the deep sea mining industry presents a very real threat to whale populations worldwide.” A couple of critical paragraphs say this:
The study, which focuses on the overlap between cetaceans (such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and target sites for deep sea mining, especially in the Pacific Ocean, says deep sea mining could cause “significant risk to ocean ecosystems” with “long-lasting and irreversible” impacts, including risks to globally endangered species like blue whales. It further states that research is needed to assess threats to these mammals, particularly noise pollution from proposed mining operations.
Arlo Hemphill, Greenpeace USA’s Project Lead on Deep Sea Mining, said: “There has been a lot of talk about wind turbines and whale deaths, but there is no evidence whatsoever connecting the two. Meanwhile, the oceans face more threats now than at any time in history. This report makes it clear that if the deep sea mining industry follows through on its plans, the habitats whales rely on will be in even greater danger. Instead of opening up a new industrial frontier in the largest ecosystem on earth, we should be establishing ocean sanctuaries to protect biodiversity.”
I share Arlo Hemphill’s concerns about the danger posed to maritime biodiversity by deep sea mining. However, unlike Mr Hemphill, I note that much of the pressure for such deep sea mining is the commercial desire to extract rare minerals that are needed for renewable energy projects such as the offshore wind farms that he is so keen to defend. The BBC acknowledged as much more than six years ago, Earlier this year, The Conversation, that hotbed of climate change alarmism, published an article with the heading “Deep seabed mining plans pit renewable energy demand against ocean life in a largely unexplored frontier”. It isn’t as though the nexus between deep sea mining and wind farms isn’t known about.
In any event, that single piece about deep sea mining, which included a side-swipe at those claiming cetaceans are facing problems caused by offshore wind farms, obviously didn’t deal with that issue sufficiently robustly. Just eight days later another piece appeared on the Greenpeace website, with the heading “How to Stop Whale Deaths from Real Threats, Not Lies About Wind Energy”. It doesn’t pull any punches:
Protecting whales means busting fossil-fueled myths about wind energy — Right-wing disinformation is the real threat!…
…Recently a new insidious threat to whales — and all biodiversity — has our attention: Disinformation.
In response to a tragic spate of whale deaths along the East Coast [of the USA], anti-science media such as FOX News, long beholden to fossil fuel corporations, has amplified the baseless claims made — with no supporting evidence — by a small group of local mayors that offshore wind farming is somehow to blame.
As noted by the marine mammal experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is zero evidence of a connection between the whale deaths and wind farming. Nevertheless, fear-mongering calls for a moratorium on wind power projects in the region benefit Big Oil’s fight against a just transition to renewable energy, while only pretending to care about local whale populations.
The perils of spreading misleading, false information may seem less immediate than a whaler’s harpoon. But climate disinformation moves us further away from the real solutions to the climate crisis that all living creatures so desperately need.
To debunk the dangerous disinformation distracting from the true dangers facing whale populations in this region of the Atlantic Ocean, we’ve consulted two-longtime oceans experts: Greenpeace USA’s Oceans Campaigns Director John Hocevar and Greenpeace USA’s Senior Oceans Campaigner Arlo Hemphill.
Let’s set the record straight…
It reads like a Guardian hit-piece, with all the usual lazy smears and tropes – right wing: tick. Fossil fuel corporations: tick. Fox News: tick. Big Oil: tick. Climate crisis: tick.
Speaking of the Guardian, it followed up last month with the defence of offshore wind farms and the smearing of those who suggest there is a connection between wind farm developments and whale deaths, with an article with the following heading and sub-heading: “Energy industry uses whale activists to aid anti-wind farm strategy, experts say – Unwitting whale advocates and rightwing thinktanks create the impression that offshore wind energy projects endanger cetaceans”. It’s all there too. It talks of:
…a trap laid out by rightwing interests that are sowing doubt to fuel public discontent over renewable energy projects.
Also in attendance that night was Lisa Linowes, a member of the SRWC who has also served as a senior research fellow for the notorious Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a rightwing thinktank known for its crusade against the energy transition.
This roster of attendees shows how industry interests opposed to climate action are capitalizing on locals’ concerns over the right whale in an attempt to block renewable energy projects. The rhetoric used by anti-wind crusaders like Chalke, Knight and Linowes posits nature against industry – but their reasoning is often flawed.
The SRWC’s strategy – exploiting gaps in scientific research or consensus to spread doubt – mirrors one long used by oil interests to delay the transition to renewable energy. Science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway outlined how climate deniers and skeptics used this playbook in their 2010 book Merchants of Doubt.
Today, organizations like the SRWC are calling into question the effectiveness of wind energy in an attempt to delay or suspend construction of wind projects. Knight, whose group Green Oceans is also a member of the SRWC, recently self-published a white paper on wind energy that Roberts called “full of cherrypicked data”.
I’m not so sure about the data being cherry-picked. I would suggest it’s right there in front of us. It’s not as though the Guardian hasn’t been reporting on the unusual number of recent whale strandings, after all. A quick internet search using the terms “Guardian whale beachings” brings up the following headlines (with dates, simply in the order in which my search engine turned them up):
“Race to save almost 50 pilot whales after same number die in mass stranding on WA beach”: 26th July 2023.
Linked article: “‘We have never seen this’: scientists baffled by behaviour of pilot whales before WA mass stranding – Environment minister says way pod crowded tightly together 150 metres offshore before becoming beached is ‘unique and pretty incredible’”: 26th July 2023.
“Stranding of three whales in Corfu raises alarm over seismic testing for fossil fuels”: 9th March 2022.
“Beached whale increase may be due to military sonar exercises, say experts – It is thought sonar may scare animals into surfacing too quickly, causing decompression sickness”: 24th August 2020.
“More than 50 pilot whales dead in mass stranding on Isle of Lewis in Scotland”: 16th July 2023.
That represents a very short, but possibly representative, list. The cases of such strandings are legion, and they do seem to be increasingly and distressingly commonplace. I find it very interesting indeed that experts can seek to put forward all sorts of possible explanations for the strandings, including that whales may be adversely affected by military sonar or (perhaps inevitably) by “seismic testing for fossil fuels”. I certainly don’t rule the latter out, but I do wonder why the same experts apparently rule out similar noise disturbance from existing wind farms and from the research work carried out onsite in connection with possible new ones.
Both Greenpeace and the Guardian cite NOAA in defence of their claim that experts reckon wind farms and whale strandings aren’t connected. The Guardian link takes us to this. It’s from 18th January 2023, and I wonder whether the apparent increase in whale strandings in the intervening seven months might make the experts at NOAA change their minds? I also note that they don’t categorically say that wind farms can’t affect and disorientate whales. The language is carefully chosen. They say things like this:
Since January 2016, NOAA Fisheries has been monitoring an Unusual Mortality Event for humpback whales with elevated strandings along the entire East Coast. There are currently 178 humpback whales included in the unusual mortality event. Partial or full necropsy examinations were conducted on approximately half of the whales. Of the whales examined, about 40% had evidence of human interaction, either ship strike or entanglement. And to date, no whale mortality has been attributed to offshore wind activities.
Call me a cynic if you like, but I don’t think that an examination of “approximately half the whales” (how approximate, I wonder? More than half or less than half?) which found that “about 40%” had evidence of human interaction such as ship strike or entanglement conclusively rules out the possible involvement of wind farm activities. If “approximately half” and “about 40%” means “ a bit less than” in each case (and I suspect it does) we are certainly talking about conclusive evidence for only one in five, and possibly even as little as one in six or seven of the affected whales. Also, failure to attribute whale mortality to offshore wind activities is not the same as offshore wind activities having no connection to whale mortality.
As regards the reliability of NOAA (which itself pushes climate change alarmism on a regular basis) I personally mistrust anything it says, since I found its monthly climate reports repeating the (highly inaccurate) claim that last year’s floods in Pakistan saw “about one third” of that country under water – it wasn’t.
One of the most shocking recent whale strandings was that referred to in the Guardian article of 16th July 2023 above. The Guardian said, inter alia:
The cause of the stranding is unknown but it is thought the pod may have followed one of the females….
…Human influence on the marine environment – including naval activities, oil and gas exploration, pollution and the climate crisis – has been blamed for an increase in the number of strandings in recent years. However, they can also result from natural causes such as illness, disease or injury. …
…Pilot whales are part of the dolphin family and are the cetacean species most susceptible to mass strandings.
It’s all there – “ naval activities, oil and gas exploration, pollution and the climate crisis”. What the Guardian article didn’t mention, however, is that at the time of the stranding, surveying work was being undertaken in connection with a proposed wind farm just three miles off the shore of the Isle of Lewis & Harris, and which is very controversial indeed.
Of course it’s possible that there is no connection, but if noise and activity from oil and gas exploration, from deep sea mining and from military sonar can all potentially explain whale strandings, what is so magical about offshore wind farms that they can’t possibly have the same effect on whales (and dolphins and porpoises)?
Greenpeace activists were my heroes when I was growing up. Not any more.
Climate Scepticism 
The anti-oil campaigning Greenpeace?
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It’s quite obvious that undersea noise harms cetaceans. Installing wind farms creates such noise, and must harm cetaceans. The question is, to what extent? It only affects nearby animals: but how close is nearby? Harm can be as limited as temporary displacement from usual habitat right up to permanent hearing damage.
I will delve back into the literature on this at some point. From memory the problem with attributing noise as a contributor to death in post mortems is that the fine structure of the auditory canal is lost within a few hours of death, leading to inconclusive results.
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Jit,
I freely admit to knowing none of the answers here. What struck me as barking mad, driven by nothing more than dogma, was the assertion that all sorts of submarine noise and disruptive industrial behaviour could be responsible for whale strandings, but not noise and disruptive behaviour associated with wind farms. Especially given that there seems to be increasing correlation geographically between wind farm activities and whale strandings.
I also can’t help wondering if the repetitive swish swish of wind turbine blades might not transmit down the turbine shaft to below the sea surface, and have a disorienting effect on cetaceans.
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This ‘no evidence that wind farm activities harm whales claim’ is complete and utter bullshit. NOAA KNOWS that acoustic underwater activity can not only ‘harass’ marine life (cause disturbance and injury) but also ‘take’ (i.e. kill) marine mammals, including whales. They bloody well admit it, in writing:
“The NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources authorizes the incidental take of marine mammals under the MMPA to U.S. citizens and U.S.-based entities, if we find that the taking would:
Be of small numbers;
Have no more than a “negligible impact” on those marine mammal species or stocks; and
Not have an “unmitigable adverse impact” on the availability of the species or stock for subsistence uses.
Further, we must prescribe the permissible methods of taking and other means of effecting the least practicable adverse impact on the affected species or stocks and their habitat (i.e., mitigation), paying particular attention to rookeries, mating grounds, and areas of similar significance, and on the availability of such species or stocks for taking for certain subsistence uses; and requirements pertaining to the monitoring and reporting of such takings.
Most incidental take authorizations have been issued for activities that produce underwater sound.”
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/permit/incidental-take-authorizations-under-marine-mammal-protection-act
NOAA is currently processing ‘take’ applications from wind companies. This particular ‘take’ (ritual sacrifice) application includes 12 Humpback and Minke whales.
“Park City Wind, LLC Construction of the New England Wind Offshore Wind Farm Project off of Massachusetts
Status Public Comment Issued Date Effective Dates
In Process Closed — —
Summary: NOAA Fisheries has received a request from Park City Wind, LLC for Incidental Take Regulations and an associated Letter of Authorization. The requested regulations would govern the authorization of take, by Level A harassment and/or Level B harassment, of small numbers of marine mammals over the course of 5 years (2025-2030) incidental to construction of the New England Wind Project. Park City Wind proposes to develop the New England Wind Project in two phases, known as Park City Wind (Phase 1) and Commonwealth Wind (Phase 2). Project activities that may result in incidental take include pile driving (impact and vibratory), drilling, unexploded ordnance or munitions and explosives of concern detonation, and vessel-based site assessment surveys using high-resolution geophysical equipment. If adopted, the proposed regulations would be effective March 27, 2025, through March 26, 2030.”
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-mammal-protection/incidental-take-authorizations-other-energy-activities-renewable
Somebody needs to shove these facts right up the jacksies of Greenpiss executives and Guardianista journalists.
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As I’m sure you’re already aware, the RSPB are just as much hypocrites:
Dellingpole, J. (2013, April 7). RSPB makes a killing… from windfarm giants behind turbines accused of destroying rare birds. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305197/RSPB-makes-killing–windfarm-giants-turbines-accused-destroying-rare-birds.html
Stop These Things. (2014, November 13). “Green” Hypocrisy: RSPB Fiddles as Scotland’s Wind Farms Found Guilty of Rampant Raptor Slaughter. https://stopthesethings.com/2014/11/13/green-hypocrisy-rspb-fiddles-as-scotlands-wind-farms-found-guilty-of-rampant-raptor-slaughter/”
Campaign 4 Protection of Moorland Communities. (2021, January 5). The RSPB’s hypocrisy and absurdity on windfarms ‘knows no bounds’. https://www.c4pmc.co.uk/post/the-rspb-s-hypocrisy-and-absurdity-on-windfarms-knows-no-bounds
As one example of what this means in practice:
‘Dozens of birdwatchers who travelled to a Scottish island to see an extremely rare swift have been left distraught after it was killed by a wind turbine. … Sightings of the bird have only been recorded eight times in the UK in nearly 170 years, most recently in 1991, prompting around 80 ornithologists to visit the island in the hope of catching a glimpse.’
(Johnson, S. (2013, June 27). Birdwatchers see rare swift killed by wind turbine. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10146135/Birdwatchers-see-rare-swift-killed-by-wind-turbine.html)
Between the RSPB killing the birds and Greenpeace killing the whales, it’s almost that old line from Vietnam: ‘We had to destroy the planet in order to save it.’ Or, to steal Reagan’s line, if ‘the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help,” ‘ the ten most terrifying are ‘I’m an environmentalist and I’m here to save the planet.’
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Scotched Earth,
Regrettably, many organisations that are supposed to be concerned with protecting wildlife are signed up to the narrative that the so-called climate crisis is a greater danger to wildlife than anything else. The RSPB is one of them. No doubt that’s why Jit wrote this:
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Jaime,
As so often, many thanks for your diligent research.
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Whale deaths are happening now but ocean floor mining is just a proposal; and not in the areas where the deaths are occurring but surveying for wind farms is.
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Of course, it isn’t just whales, and “greens” in the USA seem to be the happiest of all for “renewable” energy to kill wildlife:
“Green Activists Silent as California Moves to Help Wind Farm Slaughter of America’s Iconic Bald Eagle”
https://dailysceptic.org/2023/08/25/green-activists-silent-as-california-moves-to-help-wind-farm-slaughter-of-americas-iconic-bald-eagle/
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Net Zero cannot work. Attempting to make it work will result in the deaths of millions of people via energy poverty and general economic destruction. It will also kill countless millions of animals and industrialise millions of acres of natural habitat as well as taking valuable farmland out of production – farmland which feeds people. They know this, they know that unilateral decarbonisation is a pointless exercise anyway, but still they plough straight ahead regardless. That’s not stupidity or mass delusion, it’s pure malice.
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This is interesting:
“Young climate activist tells Greenpeace to drop ‘old-fashioned’ anti-nuclear stance
Swedish teenager Ia Anstoot says group’s ‘unscientific’ opposition to EU nuclear power serves fossil fuel interests”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/29/young-climate-activist-tells-greenpeace-to-drop-old-fashioned-anti-nuclear-stance
Greenpeace do seem to be obsessed with pushing renewable energy above all else, and regardless of the cost and damage caused thereby. According to a Greenpeace spokesperson:
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Mark,
Dumb slogs it out with Dumber. Dumb says can no longer work with Dumber. Oh Lord deliver us from these squabbling idiotic eco-zealots.
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Michael Shellenberger is making great progress getting the message out there that wind farm developers are killing whales:
“But our documentary has hit a nerve. Within the first 48 hours of it being online, over 20,000 people re-posted it, and over 6 million people total, across two tweets, have viewed the posts with the embedded trailer for “Thrown To The Wind.”
And, now, Republican members of Congress tell me they want to hold hearings to investigate.
I have been involved in a lot of great causes in the 35 years that I have been politically active. This one, saving the whales, is easily one of the most noble and important. One of my first political memories as a boy was the Greenpeace “Save the Whales” sticker in my father’s food co-op.”
https://nypost.com/2023/08/26/new-documentary-proves-that-offshore-windfarms-kill-whales/
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“Ballymacormick Point: Dead whale washes up on County Down coast”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66694254
I don’t know whether this is true, but it certainly strikes me as plausible.
And h/t to Jaime for noticing the Incidental Harrassment Authorization procedure.
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Much seismic would have been done before and after drilling for hydrocarbons. Did this result in whale stranding? I don’t recall any, but then for several decades I lived overseas.
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Alan,
In my piece I cite the Guardian article from July, which points out that oil and gas exploration (inter alia) have been blamed for whale strandings. And such blame might be attributed correctly.
What I struggle with is an ability to accept that this might be so, while determinedly insisting that the current surge in strandings, often in locations where there is a surge in offshore wind farm activities, can’t possibly have anything to do with said wind farm activities.
I suggest that offshore wind farm activity currently is on a far greater scale, so far as cetaceans are concerned, than offshore oil and gas exploration, past and present.
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Mark, Alan,
Oil and gas exploration have been ongoing for many years in certain areas. NOAA for instance have a long history of granting ‘harassment permits’ for activities involving exploitation of hydrocarbons, which adversely affect marine life. This includes increased shipping, drilling and offshore site surveying. The difference with the wind industry is that it is expanding very quickly into areas which have not traditionally seen much industrial and shipping activity, e.g. Scottish Islands and NE USA Atlantic seaboard. Wildlife in these areas has not had time to adapt/relocate in response to the very significant uptick in activity; hence it may be the case that the wind industry is now having a disproportionate impact upon marine life, made worse by the fanatical determination of the authorities and regulators (aided and abetted by the MSM) to deny any culpability on behalf of the untouchable wind industry for whale deaths especially.
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The thing about seismic exploration related to hydrocarbons in the North Sea and whale mortality is that as different areas opened up there should have been a noticeable geographic correspondence between different areas of the North Sea undergoing exploration activities and regions where whales stranded. This would have been strong evidence for a link. Mention of whale strandings somewhere in the North Sea when seismic exploration occurred perhaps elsewhere would not be evidence for a link.
Interestingly instances of no correspondence cannot be used to disprove a link: seismic work and no strandings could mean no cetaceans present and strandings with no seismic could merely indicate more than one cause for strandings.
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Alan,
I can’t fault your logic. And for the record, I have not claimed that offshore wind farm developments are definitely causing whale strandings.
What I do say is that those who claim that oil and gas exploration caused whale strandings, but who refuse to countenance the possibility that offshore wind farm activities might be doing so, are being inconsistent, and are putting their obsession with greenhouse gas emissions before conservation.
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I would add that as whale strandings reach very high (unprecedented?) levels, in or near areas of large scale wind farm activities, the possibility that there might be a link should not be ignored.
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Mark. I also believe there is a strong link between something to do with offshore wind turbines (their installation or transmitted vibrations during operation) and cetacean strandings. What I find difficult to believe is that earlier seismic exploration did not reveal an earlier link between noise and the demise of whales.
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Alan,
We are in agreement. Vague statements in Guardian articles about the putative connection between whale strandings and oil and gas exploration are surprising – one would expect studies to have been undertaken and for the Guardian to be quoting chapter and verse.
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Alan/Mark: might there be some basic difference between the seismic work carried out for oil & gas and that done for wind farms?
For example, I imagine o&g exploration focusses on a small area where they plan to install a platform whereas wind farms cover a large area.
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Mike. Rather the reverse. Exploratory seismic lines are long. Even seismic lines conducted to confirm oilfield or gas field drilling sites commonly extend for many kilometres. Perhaps a more significant difference might be duration with seismic for hydrocarbons being short.
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“Why won’t Greenpeace admit that wind turbines may be killing whales?”
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-wont-greenpeace-admit-that-wind-turbines-may-be-killing-whales/
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“Whale found dead on North Yorkshire beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-66879405
Nothing to do with the plethora of offshore windfarms in that part of the North Sea, of course.
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“Offshore wind: Trump blames whale deaths on turbines”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66928305
The extraordinary determination of some people who ought to know better (seemingly compounded by Trump Derangement Syndrome) to deny that offshore windfarms have anything to do with whale deaths is something to behold. All because “climate change” trumps everything, so measures to deal with climate change (but which won’t do so), such as wind farms, must be defended at all costs.
The BBC churns out the same utterly non-conclusive NOAA findings that have been referred to above on this thread, and yet finishes the article by implicitly acknowledging that there may be a problem. Some fact check!
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The BBC is very upset about Rosebank. And I admit it may be as bad environmentally as an offshore wind farm, but the difference in reporting on the two is staggering:
“What about other potential environmental impacts?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment
at 15.38 today:
All too sadly, no doubt this is true. But compare and contrast with the BBC report I commented on above on this thread yesterday:
““Offshore wind: Trump blames whale deaths on turbines””
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“UK Govt rejects request to share whale stranding data, fuelling suspicions over offshore wind farms.”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/uk-govt-rejects-request-to-share-whale-stranding-data-fuelling-suspicions-over-offshore-wind-farms-65b6ffb80e5d
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Mark,
After the North Sea algal bloom fiasco, I wouldn’t trust Defra as far as I could throw them.
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‘It’s not in the government’s interest to make the data public’ more like.
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We really could do without Trump getting involved in this discussion, since anything he lends support to gives the TDS lobby an excuse to rubbish anything he says. And he shoots from the hip saying things in an unmeasured way that gives them the perfect opportunity to do so. Still, reading the following article in the Guardian (of course, where else?) it strikes me as amazing the lengths some people will go to in their efforts to claim that offshore wind turbines have nothing to do with whale deaths and strandings (while elsewhere arguing that oil and gas drilling do have such impacts). I accept the latter, but I don’t see how both claims can be made (i.e. oil/gas drilling bad for whales; wind turbines harmless to whales).
“Trump falsely claims wind turbines lead to whale deaths by making them ‘batty’
Ex-president attacks clean energy by making multiple false statements at South Carolina rally”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/26/trump-whale-wind-turbine-renewable-energy-misinformation
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“How a huge new LNG plant spells ‘dire’ trouble for whales off Canada’s coast”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/07/how-a-huge-new-lng-plant-spells-dire-trouble-for-whales-off-canadas-coast
It’s possible that every word in this article is true. If so, we should be very concerned. However, it’s worth comparing and contrasting the certainty that an LNG plant spells deep trouble for whales, with the equal apparent certainty that offshore wind farms cause them absolutely no harm at all. I’m pretty confident that if a sudden spike in whale deaths and strandings occurred at the same time as an increase in oil and/or gas exploration offshore, there would be immediate calls for work to stop until a detailed investigation had been carried out. Yet when a sudden spike in whale deaths and strandings coincides with increased offshore wind turbine activity we are simply told to move along, that there’s nothing to see here.
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“Speeding boats push critically endangered whales closer to extinction
North Atlantic right whales are being killed in collisions with vessels that are flouting go-slow zones in US waters, report warns”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/19/speeding-boats-push-critically-endangered-whales-closer-to-extinction
Nothing to do with offshore wind turbines, of course….
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Michael Shellenberger somewhat overestimates the role played by himself and public protests at whale deaths methinks for the recent very welcome decision by Orsted to abandon its wind projects in New Jersey. I fear hard economics was the deciding factor, not whales. But whatever the reason, the end result is good for whales, bad for the wind industry and its crony capitalist ‘Green’ investors:
They said it couldn’t be stopped but we stopped it — thanks to supporters like you
For years, the Biden administration, environmentalists, and the wind industry have argued that the building of giant wind turbines along the East Coast was inevitable. Wind energy was already cheaper than fossil fuels, supporters claimed. And President Joe Biden made wind energy a significant priority and was photographed in a meeting with wind executives holding talking points touting its benefits.
But now, Danish wind energy company Orsted has cancelled its South New Jersey projects, Ocean Wind 1 and 2, in the face of rising public opposition, evidence that wind industry activities were killing whales, and worsening economics. Ocean Wind 1 and 2 would have sited more than 200 massive wind turbines just 15 miles away from the New Jersey shore.
Orsted’s stock has fallen 60% this year and the New York Times estimates it will have to write off $5.6 billion in investments in the two projects. “There’s really not a Plan B right now,” confessed Jeff Tittel, the former director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter. “It’s a political disaster.”
https://public.substack.com/p/victory-orsted-abandons-whale-killing
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This is interesting, not least as it contains an admission that there is indeed a problem associated with offshore windfarms:
“How bubble curtains protect porpoises from wind farm noise”
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231106-the-big-bubble-curtains-protecting-porpoises-from-wind-farm-noise
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Mark,
No mention of acoustic surveying, which is the number one cause of marine mammal deaths and injuries PRIOR to construction of wind ‘farms’, for which bubble curtains would NOT be of any use.
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“How a false claim about wind turbines killing whales is spinning out of control in coastal Australia”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/12/how-a-false-claim-about-wind-turbines-killing-whales-is-spinning-out-of-control-in-coastal-australia
A fairly nasty piece (inevitably referencing Trump) rubbishing the substantial Australian opposition to offshore wind farms, and apparently ignoring the substantial evidence of harms mentioned in the BBC piece I referenced above on 7th November. How can this be? The Guardian and the BBC are usually in lock-step on such issues.
It takes a special sort of environmentalist to ignore rising numbers of whale deaths and strandings coincident with rising numbers of off-shore wind farm developments. As I keep acknowledging, correlation is not causation, but one might expect environmentalists to be curious and concerned at the coincidence, and to dig a little deeper, rather than rubbishing anyone who is concerned about the coincidence.
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I assume no offshore wind farms will be allowed. The article doesn’t say@
“Dominica creates world’s first marine protected area for sperm whales
Nearly 300 sq miles of water on west of Caribbean island to be designated as a reserve for endangered animals”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/13/caribbean-dominica-whale-reserve
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Don’t you just love the Guardian?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/13/people-who-build-wind-turbines-at-sea-do-not-care-if-whales-live-or-die-monsters
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“PRESS RELEASE: Coalition Files Notice of Intent to Sue Federal Agencies to Stop Whale-killing Virginia Wind Project”
https://heartland.org/opinion/press-release-coalition-files-notice-of-intent-to-sue-federal-agencies-to-stop-whale-killing-virginia-wind-project/
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Sod the fishes, the lobsters, the phytoplankton, the whales, the dolphins and the porpoises. Sod ’em all.
The destruction wrought by wind turbines extends well beyond what it’s doing to whales.
A report just released by a New England fishermen association summarizes research they completed on offshore wind projects. Their findings are stunning. Just the geographic extent of these proposed offshore wind projects is unprecedented. According to the report, “Federal regulators at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have designated almost 10 million acres for wind farm surveys and development.” That is over 15,000 square miles.
Not included in that allocation are the corridors where high voltage lines will have to cross the ocean floor to transfer electricity from the turbines to land-based power grids. The report found that “electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emanating from subsea cables appear to produce birth deformities in juvenile lobster.” That’s just the beginning.
The report also found that wind farms “increase sea surface temperatures and alter upper-ocean hydrodynamics in ways scientists do not yet understand,” and “whip up sea sediment and generate highly turbid wakes that are 30-150 meters wide and several kilometers in length, having a major impact on primary production by phytoplankton which are the base of marine food chains.” And there’s more.
Wind turbines “generate operational noise in a low frequency range (less than 700 Hz) with most energy concentrated between 2 and 200 Hz. This frequency range overlaps with that used by fish for communication, mating, spawning, and spatial movement,” and “high voltage direct current undersea cables produce magnetic fields that negatively affect the drifting trajectory of haddock larvae by interfering with their magnetic orientation abilities.” Haddock are “a significant portion of U.S. commercial fish landings and are an important component of the marine food chain.”
“The scandalous double standard at work here can only be attributed to a combination of powerful special interests representing the wind power industry, interacting with a state legislature and environmentalist movement that is either bought off or alarmingly stupid. As it is, hundreds of billions of taxpayer subsidies are on track to pay for offshore wind. If it is not stopped, it will be one of the most egregious cases of economic waste and environmental destruction in human history.”
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By the way, straight talking Edward Ring also thinks that we should definitely challenge these climate fanatics and wreckers of the environment on the NECESSITY for their hare-brained solutions to a non-existent climate crisis:
“If you concede the science, and only challenge the policies that a biased and politicized scientific narrative is being used to justify, you’re already playing defense in your own red zone. You’re going to lose the game. Who cares if we have to enslave humanity? Our alternative is certain death from global boiling! You can’t win that argument. You must challenge the science, and you can, because scientists like John Christy and others are still available.”
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Another sad story that might have nothing to do with offshore wind farms (certainly the way the story is written does carry suggestions that other factors might be at work). However, it’s worth noting, for all that, the whale in question was washed up on a beach not far from one of Cornwall’s earliest offshore wind farms (Carland Cross) the “repowering” of which was completed ten years ago:
“Female fin whale found dead on Cornwall beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg3p8mv08yko
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This is a prime example of just how callous the Guardian has become when it comes to commenting on the environment. They freely admit that the number of dead whales on our beaches is growing, year by year, but offer no explanation and show no concern as to why that is happening. All they are interested in reporting on is how to ‘get rid of’ the carcass before decay gases build up and cause it to explode (or maybe before too many members of the public witness the dead whale). Just how callous and uncaring can ‘environmentalists’ get? I find the entire article to be quite disgusting, akin to a report say, on how do you ‘get rid of’ the annoying piles of dead bodies following Islamic terrorist attacks. Because that’s what happening – environmental terrorism by committed by ‘Green’ wind farm developers, enabled by complicit government, using taxpayers’ money.
“After a dead fin whale washed up on a beach in Newquay, Cornwall, this week, experts are now dealing with a logistical challenge: how do you get rid of a carcass weighing several tonnes? And what do you do if it explodes?
Hundreds of whales become stranded along the British coastline each year, and the numbers are rising. Since the Zoological Society of London’s Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) was founded in 1990, it has recorded 17,850 cetacean strandings in the UK. There has been an unusually high number of whale strandings so far this year, including that of a pod of 55 pilot whales that washed up on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland in July in one of the UK’s biggest mass strandings to date.
“When I started this job 25 years ago, you might be looking at 500 to 600 strandings a year, but now we are looking at 1,000,” said the CSIP project manager Rob Deaville, one of the experts who conducted postmortem examinations on July’s mass stranding.
The discovery of a stranded whale poses an array of problems for the local councils and organisations tasked with disposing of the carcass.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/17/how-do-you-get-rid-of-a-beached-whale-before-it-explodes
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You climate deniers are always so keen to blame whale strandings on renewables but what if the real cause of the strandings is an elitist plot by arms manufacturers, MI5, Tony Blair and George W Bush to distract ordinary people from what really matters?
https://archive.org/details/BBC_Radio_4_Extra_20170620_220000_As_Told_to_Craig_Brown?start=625
Tony Benn was on to this in 2006. That’s 17 years ago, half the lifespan of a typical bottlenosed whale. Wake up, sheeple!
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“Offshore wind farms, dead whales and the row that’s started a green-on-green civil war
Clean energy crusaders are at loggerheads with conservationists over claims the turbines are killing cetaceans”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/environment/2023/11/22/is-the-rise-in-whale-deaths-due-to-offshore-wind-farms/
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Mark, as I pointed out in my Substack post, it’s highly likely that acoustic underwater surveys for floating offshore wind platforms in the Atlantic off the coasts of Devon and Cornwall and Pembrokeshire have been ongoing since Spring 2023. Does the Telegraph point this out? Probably not, though I’ve yet to read the article.
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At Newquay – which has no offshore wind farm nearby – there is no obvious cause behind the fin whale’s death. “We will not know what happened to this individual until a necropsy is performed. And even then, the real cause may never be known,” says Groves.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/offshore-wind-farms-dead-whales-and-the-row-thats-started-a-green-on-green-civil-war/ar-AA1km8d6
Jesus, that is SO bloody dishonest!
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“Mass whale strandings: what is behind the recent spate of ‘suicidal’ urges?”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/12/whale-strandings-could-this-suicidal-urge-stem-from-strong-social-bonds
No answer is given, but there seems a distinct lack of interest in the possibility that it might have anything to do with windfarms (the possibility isn’t even touched on). The closest we get to the possibility even being hinted at very indirectly is this:
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The Guardian has gone full cognitive dissonance over whale deaths.
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“Wind farm off New Jersey likely to ‘adversely affect’ but not kill whales, feds say”
https://news.yahoo.com/wind-farm-off-jersey-likely-164625651.html
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Really? No lethal effects upon ANY whales? Look at table 46. It specifies a total of 26 IHA level A (lethal) takes of whales over the 5 year construction period. Zero level A IHA for North Atlantic Right Whales ONLY. 30 seals and porpoises are allowed to be killed too. The Level B harassment authorisations are far more numerous and there is no guarantee that these will not also lead to a number of fatalities. Also, note level B IHAs for North Atlantic Right Whale – a huge 3.5% of the already critically endangered population! This document is dated June 2023 so it looks like the public are being lied to again. Also, we have evidence from boats actually recording activities in the Atlantic that the acoustic surveys being done by wind companies are far louder, over larger distances, than specified by the company in the application to NOAA, so we should take all of NOAA’s estimates of IHAs level A and B with a large pinch of salt.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-09/Atlantic-Shores-PDEUpdates-LOAUpdatesPDEMemo-OPR1.pdf
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Unlike some organisations, I try to avoid lying by omission, so I mention this, FWIW:
“Fin whale stranded on Fistral ‘probably died of measles type virus'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-67790334
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Here’s another one:
“Minke whale washes up on Kent shore”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3gyzqrv9qdo
Perhaps, as with frenzied reporting of extreme weather, we are simply more aware of these events thanks to smartphones, internet and 24/7 news reporting. However, it’s definitely looking as though something has changed. Climate change, or offshore wind farms?
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“Associated Press Got It Wrong: Wind Farm Contractors Acknowledge Turbines Harm Dolphins, Whales”
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/12/28/memo-to-ap-wind-farm-contractors-admit-turbines-harm-whales-dolphins/
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Well, bloody hell, what do you know? Somebody else has noticed that these wind farm operators were granted specific licence by NOAA to HARM sea mammals, including whales, right up to the level of KILLING them in pursuit of their operations to install turbines. Wonders never cease!
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Sorry Jaime, the curse of the spam filter struck again. I should have pointed out when posting the link to that article that you were ahead of the game in spotting those NOAA licences.
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https://environmentalprogress.org/big-news/2024/1/18/wind-industry-activity-strongly-correlated-with-whale-deaths-new-study-finds
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Here’s another one:
“Large whale discovered washed up on Fife beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy6e9027y65o
That isn’t a quote, it just seems to be what the BBC has decided – it was the storms that did it (handy, really, since they do their best to link storms to climate change). It’s possible, I suppose, but as whales spend much of their time well below the surface, it doesn’t seem to be the obvious or most likely explanation for this stranding. On the other hand, there are a few windfarms offshore from Fife, either operating or in the course of construction.
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Another report on a whale death from the corporation which gave us the gross ‘misrepresentation’ of Covid deaths in order to promote the case for lockdowns.
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Another comment straight into spam!
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It’s free now, Jaime.
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Why no annual reports on this website for three years now?
https://strandings.org/publications/
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Of course correlation isn’t causation, but here’s yet another sad incident:
“Anglesey: Dolphin dies after six stranded on beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-68167708
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Irony:
“Study finds oil platform removal moved porpoises”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce97j6296p6o
“A study has found that marine mammals are affected by offshore decommissioning work – but their behaviour returns to normal when a project is complete.
Aberdeen University researchers studied the impact on porpoises in the Moray Firth during the work to remove the Jacky platform.
They found the noise levels in the water increased by up to 40 decibels due to a number of vessels that were present during the decommissioning work.
The porpoises were displaced, but by less than 2km (1.2 miles), which is similar to the effect that any vessel generally has on the mammals.
It is hoped the study will now be used to provide evidence for the consenting process of future decommissioning projects.”
All of the above, and apparently offshore wind farms have no, or very little, effect on cetaceans. Or so we are assured on a regular basis.
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“Bodies of sperm whales wash up on beaches”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxxz08x9n22o
“The carcasses of three sperm whales have been found in East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire.
Two currently remain on mud on the banks of the Humber estuary near Spurn Point.
It is not clear when the whales entered the estuary or if they will be removed….”
No mention – of course – of the huge offshore wind farms in those parts. Nothing to see here (apart from some very large whale carcasses…).
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These tragedies are being ignored, not only by the wind industry and its backers, but also very often by those opposed to the proliferation of renewables. Cetacean Lives Matter.
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A strange sort of investigation, that concludes:
“…Rob Deaville, from the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, said the evidence gathered will be “detailed” but added the whales have been dead too long to establish a cause of death.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpr0nx2jenqo
“London Zoo experts investigate Humber whale deaths”
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“Rope-entangled right whale spotted off coast of New England
The marine mammals are increasingly endangered as warmer waters push them into ship traffic and fishing gear”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/13/right-whale-new-england
An extraordinary piece of reporting, ignoring the elephant in the room, and seeking to blame whale deaths (“Several right whales have died this year off Georgia and Massachusetts, and environmental groups fear the species could be headed for extinction”) on the fishing industry, climate change, anything but wind turbines (which, it seems, don’t even merit a mention).
Of course the rope-entangled whale is dreadful, and the Guardian is right to report on such worrying issues. Nevertheless, the extent of the “whataboutery” in the article is really quite remarkable.
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“Defra ‘aims’ to publish UK Whale Death Data – imminently”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/defra-aims-to-publish-uk-whale-death-data-imminently-4c6f27bbdc14
April 2024 – Success: Defra now ‘aims’ to publish the information imminently…
Now, in an interesting ‘plot twist’, Defra told the ICO that they now ‘aim’ to publish the 2020 report as early as this month (April) and the 2021/2022 figures very soon.
The ICO report states “Defra aims to publish the annual report for 2020 in April 2024 and the annual reports for 2021 and 2022 in May/June 2024. Each annual report will compare the data output from the previous four-year period to establish whether there have been any significant changes in stranding numbers or likely causes of death.”
That’s great – although it is actually what the are supposed to do every year anyway….. however Defra’s careful use of language implies that the publication date remains an ‘aim’.
It doesn’t sound like a promise. But it’s what they told the ICO, so it’s on record. Let’s see if and when it happens….
Once we have the data, all that remains to be seen is what it tells us. I expect that the number of dead whales, dolphins and porpoises has continued to be unusually high since 2018, and if that’s the case then there will doubtless be significant public debate surrounding the reasons for the massive increase in cetacean deaths. This debate must include (amongst other factors) the potential role of the offshore wind industry in detrimentally affecting the marine environment and the damage that offshore wind turbines might cause to delicate marine ecosystems.
Watch this space….
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Another job for Andrew Bridgen. We urgently need a Parliamentary debate on excess deaths of whales, porpoises and dolphins.
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Let no one be misled, there is absolutely no way that the vested interests of the entire offshore wind industry and it’s massive Green support will be thwarted over a few (or even a multitude of) excess cetacean suicides.
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As Jaime has been pointing out for some time:
“NOAA Permits Wind Energy Operators to Harass and Kill Whales
Wind energy companies are complicit in a state-sanctioned, modern-day butchery of marine mammals along the U.S. East Coast”
https://californiaglobe.com/fr/noaa-permits-wind-energy-operators-to-harass-and-kill-whales/
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Mark,
Yep. It’s pretty bloody obvious. NOAA would not be granting licences to wind farm developers to kill or seriously harass these creatures (which in all probability might also result in their deaths after being driven into heavy shipping lanes) if they were not aware of the fact that wind farm surveying, construction and even operation activities can and do result in such lethal outcomes.
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“Newly released data reveals record number of cetacean deaths in UK waters”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/newly-released-data-reveals-record-number-of-cetacean-deaths-in-uk-waters-48ce8ebdae40
After months of asking the UK Department for the Environment, Defra, to share the data for cetacean strandings, at last some information is emerging.
I’ve been calling on Defra to share the data for some time, and now I’m pleased to see that the 2019 and 2020 reports have been published. At the time of writing this, we are still awaiting the 2021 and 2022 data, but already the figures are terribly alarming and beg many questions.
3000 Deaths In Just Three Years
Tragically, more than 1000 whales, dolphins and porpoises were stranded around the UK in 2018 – and it was a similar number the following year with 980 cetaceans reported to the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) in 2019.
But in 2020, there was an unprecedented number of cetacean strandings with the highest figures ever recorded in the UK by the CSIP since its inception – a shocking 1102 cetaceans, comprising at least 16 species.
Even allowing for some animals that were re-floated, it means that more than 3000 whales, dolphins and porpoises perished around the UK’s coast in just three years.
The extraordinary upward trend in whale, dolphin and porpoise deaths suggests something is very wrong in the seas around Britain.
Biggest mass stranding event since records began.
The 2020 figures included a mass stranding of at least seven Sperm Whales in Yorkshire, on the North Sea coast.
This particular tragedy was the largest sperm whale mass stranding event ever recorded in England since routine recording of strandings began in the UK in 1913.
Post mortem sampling was carried out on a few of the animals, and there was no sign of recent ship strike or fishing gear entanglement. In addition to this, the whales were thought to be in reasonable nutritional condition.
What is causing the huge upturn in cetacean deaths around the UK?
There could be a number of factors of course, there are many theories out there, but at least in the case of the Sperm whales in Yorkshire, we can largely rule out ship strike and entanglement, often casually blamed for the deaths of marine mammals. Whatever your hypothesis, whether you choose to blame climate change, naval sonar, fishing, pollution or plastics, don’t ignore the elephant in the room – industrial offshore wind farms.
The North Sea – an industrial development zone – at the expense of wildlife?
There has long been a general denial that offshore wind farms might be associated with the increase in whale deaths, but it should perhaps be noted that the aforementioned Sperm whales were stranded in an area where at least two offshore wind farms were operational at the time of the mass stranding event, both of them within just a few miles of where the whales were found, near the town of Withernsea. Meanwhile, other North Sea wind farm projects were under construction that year and a vast area of the North Sea had by then been designated a ‘development zone’ with further industrial offshore wind projects in the pipeline. Countries bordering the North Sea have hugely ambitious plans to vastly increase offshore wind capacity in the coming years.
The North Sea is rich in wildlife, but I believe that large areas of important ecosystems are under imminent threat as the industry rapidly expands.
Any debate over the cause behind the increase in strandings must include public discussion surrounding the rapid expansion of the offshore wind industry and the potential damage being done to marine ecosystems in its wake….
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“Whole pod of 77 whales die in ‘biggest mass stranding in decades'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3g6xzrxy35o
“Andrew Brownlow of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme said mass strandings of this scale are becoming more common in Scotland.
He told BBC News: “It used to be quite unusual to have a mass stranding event, certainly of this size.”
But over the last ten years or so we have seen an increase both in the number of mass stranding events around Scotland and also the size of the mass and the number of animals that it involves.
“So that is slightly concerning and that might be because there are just more animals out there, or it could be that there are more hazards that these animals are exposed to.”
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“Major operation to find cause of mass whale pod stranding”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2q0w0vp17no
…The stranding is thought to be the largest UK stranding since 1927 when 126 out of more than 130 false killer whales died in the Dornoch Firth, external in the Highlands
Last year an entire pod of 55 pilot whales died following a stranding on Lewis.
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“Whales were healthy before Orkney stranding – expert”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7240nex4ljo
All sorts of explanations for the whale stranding are discussed in the article, but wind turbines and/or wind farm surveying don’t merit a mention.
Having said that, in this case, perhaps there is no connection after all. Here’s a balanced piece from someone who is believes that wind farms may be behind some strandings, but probably not the recent Orkney one:
“Dead Whales and Wind Farms – the scientific connection”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/dead-whales-and-wind-farms-the-scientific-connection-33fa7d2e9bee
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I’m as sceptical of things I read in the Mail as I am of things I read in the Guardian – both are agenda-driven – so I treat this with caution. Still, it’s worth a read, not least as it asks questions and suggests answers that you are most unlikely to read in the Guardian:
“Professor makes stunning discovery as to why dead whales keep washing up on East Coast beaches “
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13592303/offshore-wind-killing-whales-link-survey-Luna-deaths.html
...Environmentalists, politicians and ordinary citizens loudly wondered if the construction of offshore wind turbines was killing them [whales].
Apostolos Gerasoulis, a Rutgers professor emeritus of computer science who co-created the search engine that powers Ask.com, now says the answer is yes.
‘Absolutely, 100 percent, offshore wind kills whales,’ he says….
...according to Gerasoulis, NOAA data reveal that humpback whale deaths in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island waters went from an average of two per year before 2016 to 10 in the years since.
Last year, 21 humpback whales died in the region.
You have 20 dead whales. You used to have two, and now it’s 20,’ Gerasoulis said. ‘So I started looking at this from every perspective.’
He loaded NOAA data on whale deaths, the zigzag courses of survey ships and even wave action into his computer system. Luna revealed patterns that Gerasoulis believes point to offshore wind survey vessels as the cause of the whale deaths….
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Same old, same old – anything but wind farms or wind farm surveying work could be responsible:
“How to solve a mass stranding: what caused 77 healthy whales to die on a Scottish beach?
A team of scientists are trying to find the cause of what is becoming an increasingly common event – and the answer may be hidden deep in the whales’ skulls”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/18/pilot-whale-stranding-scottish-beach-sanday-orkney-cetaceans-sound
A mass stranding last week that led to the deaths of 77 pilot whales on the Orkney island of Sanday was the largest ever recorded of the species on British shores. Initially, 12 of the animals at Tresness beach were still alive – but sadly did not survive.
The event occurred almost exactly a year after the stranding of 55 pilot whales on Tolsta beach on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides on 16 July 2023. All but one of those whales died. According to Dr Andrew Brownlow, director of the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) at Glasgow University, this may not be a coincidence.…
...Brownlow’s research proposes a drastic scenario: that mass strandings are increasing exponentially – in the numbers of animals and events. There have been about 13 mass strandings of pilot whales since SMASS was started in 1992, 10 of which have been in the last decade. Evidence indicates that the situation is only going to get worse….
...Blame in the past has been placed on severe weather conditions, illness and solar storms disrupting the whales’ natural navigation system and deceiving them into swimming on to the shore. But are these the reasons for the most recent stranding and rise in events over the years?...
...They might have been fleeing predators – orcas had been seen in the area, she says. But the scale of the Orkney stranding may prove long-held suspicions: that extremely loud sounds, caused by people, were responsible....
...“In last year’s stranding there was a significant number of animals that were pregnant or in the process of giving birth,” says Brownlow. “So they’re using these waters as calving areas.
“But the problem with that is, if these waters are noisy, then that’s a dangerous hazard for animals that have a herd mentality, that are easily spooked, and you have some complex beaches that are difficult to navigate round and are opaque to their sonar,” he says….
...Since the 1980s, researchers have cited the damaging effect of noise pollution on whales and dolphins, from seismic surveys for oil and gas to military sonar. But Brownlow counsels caution, suggesting that natural earthquakes may also have the same effect.
Whatever the reasons for the Orkney event, its consequences are serious, not only for cetaceans, but for the health of our seas. A measured and careful scientist, Brownlow nonetheless delivers a stark warning: “We’ve got to be really careful about what else we are doing in those waters.
“Otherwise,” he says, “this is going to become a horrifically common occurrence.”
I can’t argue with the conclusion. It’s a pity that nowhere does the article consider that something has changed for the worse, and the obvious new factor in the equation is the construction of lots of offshore wind farms. Correlation is not necessarily causation, but the extent of the correlation is such that it takes quite extraordinary mental gymnastics to ignore it altogether.
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Mark,
The prime suspect in this case might not be wind turbines, but tidal water turbines. In 2023, Orbital Marine was awarded a 30MW contract to build 12 orbital marine turbines in the Westray Firth area, which is close to Sanday, where these whales stranded. O2, a 2MW tidal turbine is already in operation at the same location. I can’t find any info on current operations but it goes without question that they are probably ramping up activities in the area in preparation for constructing these tidal turbines.
https://www.orbitalmarine.com/projectsites/
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“Offshore wind whale deaths indicated by statistical analysis”
WUWT
I haven’t looked into the stats yet. But on the face of it, sonar is an obvious contender.
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That piece can also be found here:
https://www.cfact.org/2024/07/22/offshore-wind-serial-whale-deaths-indicated-by-statistical-analysis/
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A very welcome addition to the sound scientific evidence which demonstrates a positive connection between whale deaths and wind farm development, specifically wind farm acoustic sea bed surveys. But it didn’t take an expert in statistics to see that something was very seriously amiss. I pointed out last year some time that the number of whale deaths in the NE USA area since 2016 exceeded the total number of whale deaths along the entire eastern seaboard during a much longer interval. This was a red flag, certainly obvious last year but probably even before, which Greenpiss (of all environmental organisations!) plus other paid-up shills of the wind industry totally ignored. To those (including the Guardian and the BBC) who were denying any link between wind farms and whales deaths, it was written, in black and white, that NOAA was authorising lethal and non lethal harassment of whales citing acoustic interference as one of the main ways in which that harassment would occur. ‘Journalists’ and ‘fact’ checkers apparently could not be arsed to check out the facts. Appalling.
Hence we should NEVER have been reading this from CFACT in a sane world where real concern for wildlife and the environment did not take a back seat to parasitic vested interests springing up on the back of an entirely fabricated global environmental concern:
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“Massive increase in porpoise deaths raises deep concerns over offshore wind farms”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/massive-increase-in-porpoise-deaths-raises-deep-concerns-over-offshore-wind-farms-2aae24ac2074
Well worth a read. The opening paragraphs are but a starter for what follows, and it’s pretty worrying:
Marine mammals are dying – while North Sea wind farms continue to expand…
“why worry about ‘disturbance and mortality’? — It’s only an entire ecosystem at risk.”
The Netherlands: More than 18,000 Harbour Porpoises stranded since 2000
There were 18,399 harbour porpoises washed up on Netherlands beaches between 2000 and 2024 (to August). Compare that figure to the previous 24 year period (1975 to 1999) when a total of 1,026 were recorded.
That’s a 1693% increase.
In 2021, in just one year, 1,245 Harbour porpoises were stranded along the Dutch coast. Back in 1991 that figure was only 34.
Indeed, the Netherlands logged its highest ever number of marine mammal strandings (across all species) in 2021, when a shocking 2,713 animals were reportedly washed up on Dutch beaches, including seals, harbour porpoise and other cetacean species. On the other side of the North Sea, the UK recorded its own highest ever levels of cetacean mortality in 2020 (this being the most recent year for which UK data is currently available).
The steadily increasing threat to marine mammals is clear, but the warning signs are being ignored as industrialisation of their habitat is accelerating at alarming levels.
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“Feds must rethink authorizing harassment of whales by offshore wind”
https://www.cfact.org/2024/08/14/feds-must-rethink-authorizing-harassment-of-whales-by-offshore-wind/
…Of course lots of death research is now needed. This includes for other critters besides whales, especially dolphins, whose harassment numbers are huge. It also includes the other stages of development besides sonar surveys. For example, construction harassment allocation numbers run ten times or more greater than survey numbers. Then, there is operations harassment, which NMFS has yet to recognize.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) needs to be rethought as well. It clearly was never designed to handle the hundreds of thousands of harassment authorizations that are being doled out to the offshore wind developers. This is painfully true now that we know numerous whales are being killed because of harassment.
The big question is whether unavoidable yet deadly offshore wind harassment is even legal under the MMPA and the Endangered Species Act.
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Offshore wind development kills many thousands of marine mammals (esp. whales, dolphins and porpoises) during the survey, construction and operation phases. This is now fact, not theory, certainly not ‘misinformation’.
Starmer’s government is pressing full steam ahead with the aim of quadrupling offshore wind capacity. This will have devastating consequences for the economy, our energy security and our marine wildlife. But the vested interests of the Green Blob are so powerful, they have managed to pull off this ‘clean energy transition’ coup with very little opposition and now the growing opposition to ‘clean energy’ is being diverted, rather predictably, to onshore projects (where people live) and even that is threatened by an authoritarian government which is seemingly intent upon crushing all dissent to its preferred narratives, including “anti-establishment rhetoric”. The future for our marine life looks bleak indeed. We can’t let growing opposition to onshore development of wind turbines fall into the trap of giving the nod to offshore development as a ‘better’ alternative to the ‘need’ for renewable energy. We don’t ‘need’ any more renewable energy at all. We never ‘needed’ the existing renewable energy infrastructure, and all forms of renewables developments, on land and on sea, come with a heavy price tag for society, the economy and the environment.
Such a statement no doubt makes me a ‘Net Zero extremist’ in the swivel-eyes of this lunatic government.
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Jaime,
Such a statement no doubt makes me a ‘Net Zero extremist’ in the swivel-eyes of this lunatic government.
It’s worse than that. According to today’s legal thinking, if someone were now to commit a criminal act in protest against off-shore windfarms, you would be complicit in that crime by having incited it through the posting of ‘misinformation’.
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I should have added, ‘unless your name is Chris Packham’.
Patrick Christys: If Nigel Farage said what Chris Packham said today, he would be in handcuffs (gbnews.com)
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John,
I’d get arrested and charged even if I happened to be standing nearby, watching what was going on.
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Jaime,
Only if the police had asked you to leave because they deemed your very presence to be likely to incite, and yet you had refused.
For example, do you look too Jewish?
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‘Openly Jewish’ is the phrase.
Respect to those whose X profiles now say that.
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I feel I should add, though, that being a climate sceptic, even since the ‘denier’ smear became popular around 2007, has meant being impolitely ignored, not beaten or banged up. Even compared to the gender critical contingent, at least in its early days.
Why is that?
I’d really like to know the answer to that.
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From today’s Daily Record (Pressreader version here for ease of viewing):
https://www.pressreader.com/article/282080577160647
THE expansion of offshore North Sea wind farms “should be paused” after whale strandings in Scotland doubled over the last decade, it has been claimed.
Campaigners warn huge turbines place ecosystems under “imminent threat” amid the SNP Government’s drive to slash carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030.
Data shows there were 929 cetacean beachings in Scotland last year compared to 428 in 2013.
On July 11, about 77 long finned pilot whales washed up on Orkney, the biggest mass stranding in almost a century.
A 2022 report by Defra pointed out construction of offshore wind farms can cause sudden, extremely loud “impulsive noise” and that “marine mammals are sensitive to noise sources which have the potential to kill, injure or disturb”.
Environmental campaigner Jason Endfield said: “Given the apparent correlation between strandings and rapid wind farms expansion, it’s imperative we halt projects until we understand the extent of the problem. It has potential to be catastrophic.”
Scotland has seven offshore wind farms, with two more under construction and a further five projects in development.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) is investigating the mass stranding at Sanday. Speculation as to potential cause would not be helpful at this point.”
SSE renewables insisted there was “no scientific evidence to substantiate” campaigners’ claims.
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Greenpiss has been caught with its pants down.
https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/how-to-stop-whale-deaths-from-real-threats-not-lies-about-wind-energy/
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Disinformation about disinformation! And I see they are campaigning against deep see mining. Do they not understand that much of the drive for deep sea mining is to obtain minerals needed for the renewable energy and associated net zero project that they are campaigning for?
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See the article is dated – February 23, 2023.
From the sub heading – “Protecting whales means busting fossil-fueled myths about wind energy — Right-wing disinformation is the real threat!”
Seems they identified & called out “Right-wing disinformation” as being the real cause for this “myth”.
“To debunk the dangerous disinformation distracting from the true dangers facing whale populations in this region of the Atlantic Ocean, we’ve consulted two-longtime oceans experts: Greenpeace USA’s Oceans Campaigns Director John Hocevar and Greenpeace USA’s Senior Oceans Campaigner Arlo Hemphill.”
Wonder what 2 long time Greenpeace oceans experts might add. can’t be bothered to quote more than this –
““While the climate deniers and the right-wing pundits are tilting at windmills,” Hocevar said, “most of us are focused on the real threats to whales: climate change, entanglement with fishing gear, ship strikes and plastic pollution.””
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“Thousands of marine mammals DEAD on Britain’s beaches — as ‘alarming’ numbers of strandings are recorded…Whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals are dying in large numbers“
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/thousands-of-marine-mammals-dead-on-britains-beaches-as-alarming-numbers-of-strandings-are-a3452d488bed
...Defra has finally published its annual reports outlining cetacean strandings around the UK coastline during 2021 and 2022.
The data is out. And it’s a shocker.
Yet another record year for cetacean strandings….
2,094 whales, dolphins and porpoises were reportedly stranded around UK coasts during the two year period, 2021–2022:
There were 1,171 during 2021 and 923 in 2022.
It means that 2021 saw the highest ever recorded number of dead cetaceans in the UK, breaking even the previous year’s record high, which I reported on in May.
That’s two consecutive record breaking years for cetacean strandings, in spite of a modest drop in 2022.
And that should be ringing alarm bells….
…Rapid industrialisation of our oceans.
There are of course many potential causes for the rising mortality levels of marine mammals, but one of the likely culprits I believe is the ongoing rapid industrialisation of our seas in the name of ‘green’ energy. Every stage of wind farm development – from surveys, through construction, to operation, maintenance and ultimately decommissioning of these vast marine industrial estates – involves disruption to wildlife and damage to delicate, little studied, ecosystems.
There are staggeringly ambitious plans to push forward with huge offshore (and onshore) wind farm projects across the UK and Europe. Without knowing what effect this is doubtless having on our wildlife, those plans seem completely reckless. We should stop building new offshore wind farms until such time as we know the harm we are doing to wildlife in the process.
Whatever opinion you reach after seeing the data, I think we can all agree that something is going very wrong in our oceans, and we must pause to consider the repercussions of our actions, as humans continue to destroy the marine environment through clumsy and irresponsible development.
After all, it doesn’t take a genius to understand that building huge industrial wind farms in the midst of prime marine wildlife habitat is perhaps not the cleverest thing to do, especially while promoting the myth that it’s all for the good of the environment.
We await the 2023 reports with interest….
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“Whales are doing well so it’s time to scrap the body that once protected them, says former head”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/25/whales-are-doing-well-so-its-time-to-scrap-the-body-that-once-protected-them-says-former-head
…Studies of whale populations make it clear that virtually all species are now increasing. Humpback numbers have risen sharply, along with blue and minke whales. The main exception is the North Atlantic right whale, which has suffered badly from vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear….
No mention of offshore wind farms, obviously.
…In response to the article in Nature, a spokesman for the IWC last week defended the commission and pointed out that it had evolved to address a range of important cetacean science, conservation and management issues since its creation.
“These include – but are not limited to – entanglement and bycatch in fishing gear (which is the biggest threat, estimated to kill more than 300,000 cetaceans every year), collisions with vessels, strandings, marine debris, and of course the world-leading and wide-ranging programme of the IWC Scientific Committee, which includes assessments of whale populations around the world.”
Include, but not limited to…Well, you got that right. Why no mention of offshore wind farms?
Interesting that climate change apparently isn’t a problem any more.
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Of course, just as the denialism of the wind farm supporters is all getting a bit much, not every whale death and stranding can be laid at the door of wind farms. Still, they’re worth noting when they take place near existing wind farms are those that are the subject of preliminary works. This story isn’t a long way from numerous wind farms:
“Dead whale washes ashore on beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c89w84xg42zo
A dead whale has washed up on a beach in Cumbria.
Measuring approximately 3.5m (11.5ft) in length, the mammal was discovered at Braystones, near Whitehaven, on Monday evening.
It is believed to be a juvenile minke or fin whale, but Whitehaven Coastguard said it was waiting for expert confirmation of the animal’s breed and age….
…Ms Neill said healthy cetaceans could become stranded because of navigational errors or underwater noise, while unhealthy animals might wash up due to injury, malnutrition, disease, old age or maternal separation.…
Barrow Offshore Wind Farm and Robin Rigg are both reasonably close, depending on where the young whale died before washing ashore.
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RFK Jr. has finally come round to our way of thinking. He probably reads Cliscep posts regularly now!
https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1829181960763146714
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“‘Worrying’ fall in Scottish basking shark sightings”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgmg8ynxd23o
Of course, this might have absolutely nothing to do with offshore wind farms, but we will never found out so long as those in charge of investigating are obsessed with blaming everything – absolutely everything – on climate change:
Scottish sightings of basking sharks have fallen to their lowest level in 20 years, say conservationists...
...HWDT’s best year for sightings was 2010 when 162 were spotted, and it has recommended further analysis to understand why numbers were so low in 2023.…
…It [Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust] said the reasons were as yet unexplained, and an investigation was needed into potential causes such as climate change.
Dr Lauren Hartny-Mills, of HWDT, said: “In the face of the nature and climate emergencies, gaining new insights and understanding into what is happening in Scotland’s seas is vital, so we can better protect these remarkable animals and this world-class region of marine biodiversity.”
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““I am sure they are suffering” — scientist issues stark warning that whales are being harmed by offshore wind farms”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/i-am-sure-they-are-suffering-scientist-issues-stark-warning-that-whales-are-being-harmed-by-8317754eaa47
An eminent scientist has warned that infrasound and vibration in the marine environment, including that from offshore wind farms, is causing immense suffering to whales and other cetaceans.
“I am sure they are suffering…” says Dr Bellut-Staeck, a German scientist, whose peer reviewed studies have led to grave concerns over the increasing number of whale strandings and the potential damage being done to marine ecosystems, as the offshore wind industry expands.…
Worth reading the whole thing.
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Greenpiss executives should be forced to read that, strapped into a chair, with their eyes forced wide open, whilst being bombarded by constant, loud and terrible noise. No, I’m not joking. They have betrayed all marine animals, especially whales, and condemned them to painful suffering and death whilst they enrich themselves with filthy lucre from the renewables industry and other Green billionaire ‘philanthropists’.
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“Operation underway to save stranded whales”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgwp2l85klo
A rescue operation is underway to save nine pilot whales that have become stranded off the Kent coast.
The pod has become trapped on mudflats at low tide in the Swale estuary near Sittingbourne.
Sadly these things do happen, and it may just be a coincidence:
“Kentish Flats Offshore Wind Farm”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentish_Flats_Offshore_Wind_Farm
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“Dead whale washes up near Edinburgh harbour after floating past Forth Bridge”
https://www.scotsman.com/hays-way/dead-whale-washes-up-near-small-harbour-in-scottish-capital-4802103
…The dead whale joins a list of many other sea mammals washed up on Scotland’s shores. Earlier this summer, a mass stranding of 77 pilot whales was discovered on a beach in Orkney. It is thought to have been the biggest mass stranding for decades….
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A sad development:
“Four whales dead after washing up on Kent coast”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1m9xeexz37o
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The story just got worse:
“Seven whales dead after washing up on beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm29lnx7e1zo
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“Walker finds dead whale on beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx24dvn71nno
“There is no way of us knowing how it died or when unfortunately.”
It would be wrong to jump to conclusions, but there is a possible explanation that the BBC won’t discuss under any circumstances.
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It may simply be yet another coincidence, but I believe this isn’t far from Robin Rigg offshore wind farm:
“Hopes high’ for stranded humpback whale after it is refloated”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8ym9jr147o
Rescuers say they are hopeful a humpback whale found stranded on the south of Scotland coastline will make a full recovery after it was refloated.
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Cape Cod’s offshore wind farm’s recent problems are well known. Another coincidence, no doubt:
“Massive great white shark washes up dead on Cape Cod beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gl55e234do
Massachusetts police had to call in a tow truck to remove a giant great white shark after it washed up dead on a beach in Cape Cod.
It remains unclear how the 12 ft (3.6m) shark died, local officials say, but they have been able to identify the animal….
...”There are no obvious signs of how or why Koala died,” the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy said in a statement. “Further testing will have to be done to find a cause of death.”
Officials performed a necropsy, an autopsy for animals, and tissue samples were taken to be analysed.
“There were no bite marks or anything on it,” Dennis Reed, who operates Nauset Recovery Inc., told the Cape Cod Times, describing the condition of the shark’s body.
“It seemed like it had a lot of internal bleeding because there was a lot of blood around its mouth,” Mr Reed told the Massachusetts outlet…..
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“Latest UK data reveals 5000 DEAD Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises in just 5 years”
https://jasonendfield.medium.com/latest-uk-data-reveals-5000-dead-whales-dolphins-and-porpoises-in-just-5-years-f21ec1b98971
The UK’s 2023 annual report to Ascobans* reveals an appalling level of cetacean deaths in British seas, and comes in the wake of record-breaking increases in whale, dolphin and porpoise mortality in recent years.
This shocking statistic should be a wake-up call to those planning to further industrialise our seas in the name of renewable energy, and especially offshore wind farms…
Evidence suggests that artificial noise in the marine environment, including infrasound and low frequency noise emanating from wind farms, poses a real danger to marine mammals and the wider ecosystem. Knowing this, and factoring in the many other causes of noise in our seas, it makes no sense to actively seek to increase ocean noise to levels that are literally unbearable for marine mammals.
Yet, the UK and many other countries have hugely ambitious plans to build many more enormous offshore wind farms, affecting vast swathes of marine habitat and ecologically sensitive areas...
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“Shocking Rise in Whale, Dolphin and Porpoise Strandings as Wind Farms Proliferate Around British Coast”
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/10/28/shocking-rise-in-whale-dolphin-and-porpoise-strandings-as-wind-farms-proliferate-around-british-coast/
…The latest U.K. stranding figures have been reported to Ascobans, a UN environmental conservation body for cetaceans in the NE Atlantic. Commenting on the “shocking” figures, the environmental writer and campaigner Jason Endfield called them “a wake-up call to those planning to further industrialise our seas in the name of renewable energy, and especially offshore wind farms”. In his view, it made no sense to increase ocean noise to levels that are “literally unbearable for marine mammals”.
The great cover-up of this environmental disaster continues with massive industrial parks being erected around the coasts of many countries. In the U.K., the incoming Labour government is committed to a massive expansion with the Mad Miliband spraying around billions of pounds in additional subsidies to boost an industry that would not exist in a free market.
To the fore in blowing smoke over the issue is Greenpeace USA’s senior oceans campaigner Arlo Hemphill who claims there is “no evidence whatsoever” connecting wind turbines to whale deaths. “It’s just a cynical disinformation campaign,” says another Greenpeace spokesman. The mainstream media often goes along with this narrative as shown by recent tweets from Agence France-Presse reporter Manon Jacob. He dismissed the focus on wind farms as a red herring “when offshore wind remains thus far marginal in the U.S. and scientific evidence of large marine mammal deaths is lacking”. This is the same Jacob who wrote a recent ‘fact check’ of the Daily Sceptic that was so bad and misleading it should feature in future journalism schools as an example of how not to criticise well-sourced material….
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Chris missed an opportunity there. He could have pointed out that NOAA have officially granted, as a matter of public record, lethal and non lethal harassment authorisations – affecting whales, porpoises and dolphins – to offshore wind farm developers in NE USA. He could have pointed out that NOAA actually admits that noise from wind farm development harms marine life, which proves that Greenpiss’s senior oceans campaigner is just spouting Greenwash BS, which proves that Greenpiss have made the ‘clean energy transition’ from protecting whales to enabling and supporting their destruction.
I would advise him of his omission but comments are not open to non paying subscribers at DS, which is also a big mistake IMO.
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Jaime, agreed, on all counts .
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I just tweeted Chris on X. Hopefully, he will get the notification of a reply to his post.
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Interesting post on WUWT about a government report which concedes the potential for harm to be caused by offshore wind:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/26/boem-finally-acknowledges-the-harm-caused-by-offshore-wind-farms/
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Not sure what to make about this, but from The Blackboard–
“SteveF
Musk tells a funny story of how SpaceX had to analyze how many sharks might be at risk when its Starship spacecraft slashes down in the ocean; the launch license depended on this analysis. SpaceX also had to capture seals on the west coast, strap them down and force them to listen to rocket launch noises (with specially designed seal headphones, strapped on their heads!). Where is the ASPCA when you need them?!?
The motivation: a government agency was concerned that the stress of rocket noises might interfere with seal mating habits. I suspect the test seals were a bit stressed regardless of the rocket noises. All madness, all the time.”
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dfhunter,
Being a sceptic means I am sceptical about that story. If true, however, the contrast between that and the cavalier attitude on the part of the authorities towards whales, dolphins etc when it comes to wind farms, is quite remarkable. However, I suspect it either isn’t true or that it has been exaggerated.
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I don’t know enough about the geography here, but I observe:
“More than 30 stranded whales rescued in New Zealand”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1dpl21x0x7o
A pod of more than 30 pilot whales were rescued after being stranded on Ruakākā Beach near Whangārei in northern New Zealand on Sunday, officials say….
and:
Rototuna wind farm is a wind farm in Whangarei, Northland Region, New Zealand.
https://www.gem.wiki/Rototuna_wind_farm
The windfarm may be nowhere near the incident, or it may be and the stranding event may be unconnected to the existence of the wind farm. I can’t help wondering, though.
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“‘It’s nonstop’: how noise pollution threatens the return of Norway’s whales
Cruises, fishing boats and even whale-watchers are adding to the din underwater, which biologist Heike Vester says not only masks cetaceans’ communication but can also stop them feeding”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/03/its-nonstop-how-noise-pollution-threatens-the-return-of-norways-whales
…But noise pollution now threatens all that, she says. It comes from cruise liners and tourist boats (many of which do not turn off their engines even when whale-watching), cargo ships, oil and gas exploration, and the military – along with issues posed by commercial fishing nets and pollution – and is growing in frequency and volume, she says….
…There are a number of studies that have looked at the impact of loud noises on marine life, in particular on whales. A study in 2022 found narwhals disturbed by seismic airguns changed their behaviour in a way that could affect their ability to forage.
It has also been proposed that human-made underwater sounds could be a contributory factor in mass whale strandings, such as the one seen in Scotland in July, when 77 pilot whales died on a beach..…
The possible link with offshore wind farms seems blindingly obvious, yet this long and interesting article doesn’t mention them once.
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Not every dead whale indicates a problem with offshore wind – whales are mortal and will die naturally. If they die unnaturally, it can be for a host of reasons. Nevertheless, there do seem to be “unprecedented” (to use a favourite word of climate alarmists) numbers of whale deaths and strandings at the very time when offshore wind energy is increasing substantially. Here’s the latest:
“Dead minke whale washes up on Irvine beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1wqpx4j1l4o
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“Stranded whale died despite marine rescue effort”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxz2ywq0wpo
A whale died after it became stranded along a stretch of the Lincolnshire coastline.
Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue (CWR) received a report that the pilot whale was stranded near Stallingborough and Immingham on Wednesday.
After volunteers were dispatched to the scene, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) were called for extra support, but the whale sadly died.
BDMLR said it was “glad the whale didn’t suffer for long in such awful conditions”....
Absolutely no speculation as to what caused the poor creature to strand. In Lincolnshire? I don’t know, of course, but I think I can guess.
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‘They’re stuck’: Cape Cod seeing more whale, turtle and dolphin strandings
Changing tides have led to an increase of beached marine life, whom rescuers scramble to save before they die
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/28/cape-cod-whale-turtle-dolphin-strandings
Needless to say, it’s because of climate change, and nothing to do with offshore wind farms.
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“Number of whale sightings ‘gone through the roof'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8d99r31yymo
No mention of climate change, with a good news story. Let’s hope they don’t get tangled up with offshore wind farms.
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On the other hand, the Guardian can be relied on to turn a good news story into a story about climate change:
“Humpback whales back in Britain, with rise in sightings from Kent to Isles of Scilly
More sightings may be a positive sign for growing population but also indicative of effect of climate change”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/18/humpback-whale-sightings-kent-isles-of-scilly
To this amateur, the much more likely explanation is simply this:
,,,Traditionally, the whales move around the western side of Britain but some are now swimming down the east coast and through the Strait of Dover – possibly re-establishing ancestral routes that were abandoned when so many humpbacks were slaughtered by 19th- and 20th-century whale-hunters.…
Refreshingly, though, we finally see an acknowledgement that offshore wind farms might be a problem:
…There are concerns that humpbacks taking the easterly migration route around Britain must pass through crowded shipping lanes and beside windfarms and new power cable installations that could disorient them or lead to collisions or strandings.…
…The humpbacks’ appearance off the Kent coast is also raising fears about the impact of new subsea electricity cables for new offshore windfarms on marine mammals.
Emma Waller, planning and policy officer for Kent Wildlife Trust, said that National Grid’s Sea Link project, which plans to install an underwater cable between Kent and Suffolk, had not undertaken enough research on its impact on whales, seals and other marine mammals and its landfall at Pegwell Bay could disrupt marine ecosystems.
“The sightings underline the need for these large offshore projects like Sea Link to fully consider their impacts on marine mammals,” said Waller. “Their current approach lacks adequate mitigation for marine mammals. Renewable energy is vital, but it must not come at the expense of wildlife when alternative options are available.
“There needs to be a review of the standards of ecological surveys for such projects – we need to understand what these impacts and implications are going to be.”
Perhaps I’m being unduly naive, but I find those comments to be most encouraging. Denialism about wind farms and whale strandings might finally be in retreat.
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Positive perhaps, but I can’t help noticing that it is still necessary to wheel out “Renewable energy is vital.”
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I do not assert that this is because of offshore wind farms, but I wonder if there’s a link. The whale stranding has occurred at the north west end of the Bass Strait. New offshore wind farms are being constructed at the north east end of the Bass Strait. That might be too far away, it might have nothing to do with it, it may just be a coincidence. Or it may be connected. I don’t know. But I log it here, in case there’s a connection:
“Officials to euthanise 90 whales stranded on beach in remote north-western Tasmania
Attempt to refloat false killer whales was unsuccessful, forcing wildlife authorities to make difficult decision for safety and ‘welfare reasons’”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/19/more-than-150-whales-stranded-on-beach-in-remote-north-western-tasmania
..“Our mass stranding events usually involve pilot whales. However, these are false killer whales, and it is our first large mass stranding of these animals in around 50 years,” Brendon Clark, a liaison officer at the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, said at a press conference in Hobart on Wednesday morning. …
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“£1m first step to restore Sussex’s coast”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clywd600zp0o
Work has begun to restore 100 miles (160km) of coastline after the Sussex Bay project received funding worth more than £1m….
...The project is working with local councils, ports and universities, who are conducting research on the marine environment.
After a reduction in pollution and an increase in fish was noted, it is hoped the area will also see more larger marine animals returning to the area.
Thea Taylor, managing director of the Sussex Dolphin Project, said: “If you look back at records from the 1800s there are documents of large pods of cetaceans off the Sussex coast but that really dipped when industrial and commercial efforts picked up.
“We’re hopeful that with a well managed fishery, balanced with conservation efforts, we can once again have a really healthy cetacean population off the Sussex coastline.”
Meanwhile:
“Plans to expand windfarm given green light”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj9e0wrzj94o
Plans to expand a windfarm off the Sussex coast have been given the go-ahead by the government.
The Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm will see a further 90 turbines erected near a site of 116 turbines….
…The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, confirmed the government granted planning permission for the project on Friday.…
You really couldn’t make this stuff up. Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?
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Snap – with your comment/link & my reply over on “The Turbine Wakes” thread.
The term “mad rush” for NZ, is sounding manic.
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“What will floating windfarms do to marine life?
Many key questions unanswered on how floating offshore wind affects dolphins, whales and seals”
https://www.energylivenews.com/2025/05/19/what-will-floating-windfarms-do-to-marine-life/
A new scientific review has highlighted the urgent need for more research into how floating offshore wind farms impact marine mammals.
As plans for large-scale deployment gather pace in British waters and beyond, scientists are asking for more research to understand what these turbines will do to whales, dolphins, seals and other marine life.
Published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, the review was conducted by researchers from the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), the Scottish Association for Marine Science and the University of Aberdeen.
It brings together existing evidence on how floating offshore wind infrastructure might affect species such as dolphins, porpoises, whales and seals.
While the review notes some potential benefits, such as increased feeding opportunities due to artificial reef effects, it also highlights risks.
These include changes in underwater noise from mooring systems, which may alter behaviour even if they do not cause physical harm and possible entanglement in anchor lines or cables.
Significant knowledge gaps remain, including how floating structures might affect ocean mixing and primary production, or how regular maintenance operations impact marine life….
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“‘Greedy’ fishermen blamed for driving whales from Irish coast”
Telegraph link.
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Jit,
He might be right. I don’t know enough to gainsay him, and his version seems plausible. Having said that, I don’t suppose the ongoing plans for a floating offshore wind farm there will help matters
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“Three whales found dead in Orkney stranding”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2d09lelyr3o
Three bottlenose whales have been found dead on Papa Westray, one of Orkney’s northernmost islands.
A specialist team from the University of Glasgow has started to carry out post-mortem examinations on the carcasses.
Investigations into the cause of death are ongoing.…
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Typical Guardian. I suppose you will be baffled if you ignore the elephant in the room:
“Experts baffled as rarely seen beaked whales involved in series of strandings
Incidents across northern Europe on 26 and 27 July have left scientists trying to understand why so many of the deep-diving whales have appeared”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/30/beaked-whales-strandings-july-western-ireland-orkney-netherlands
A series of strandings of one of the world’s deepest dwelling and most rarely seen types of whale in the last few days has left experts baffled over why they might have appeared in such numbers.
Beaked whales are used to deep ocean waters and are so rarely seen that some species have only ever been identified through dead specimens. But on 26 and 27 July there were reports from western Ireland, Orkney in Scotland and the Netherlands of these whales being stranded, raising concerns that human actions could be implicated in the animals’ deaths….
…There may be natural reasons for these incidents – there was a suggestion that the 2024 Sanday event was caused by the pilot whales being pursued by a pod of orcas. But the human-induced climate emergency is also causing warming waters that alter feeding habits throughout the marine food chain. And with seismic surveys for oil and naval sonar exercises also implicated in other beaked whale strandings (these types of underwater disturbance can cause diving whales to surface too quickly, thereby suffering decompression sickness) the impact of increased military activity is also a possible reason for these strandings.…
,,,Reporting on initial findings from the weekend, Brownlow said: “We found extensive liver pathology in the bottlenoses, possibly consistent with acute starvation.” He added that there may have been “anthropogenic noise disturbance”.…
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“Pod of 23 pilot whales found dead after mass stranding”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy988llpdwqo
A pod of 23 pilot whales have died after a mass stranding in Orkney.
The mammals were discovered on the island of Sanday on Sunday but it appears they may have been dead for several days.
A full investigation into the stranding will now take place….
And no doubt offshore wind farms and associated sub-sea infrastructure will be duly exonerated.
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“Dramatic rise in whale and dolphin strandings in Scotland
Research shows steep increases over past 30 years, after summer of strandings across Europe”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/20/rise-whale-marine-mammal-strandings-scotland
The number of marine mammals stranded in Scotland has risen dramatically in the past 30 years, a study has found.
From 1992 to 2022, 5,147 cetaceans died on Scottish shores, and a new paper shows steep increases in the rate of strandings of up to 800% in some species, continuing exponentially every year.
The paper, by the University of Glasgow’s Scottish marine animal stranding scheme (Smass), follows this summer’s extraordinary sequence of rarely seen, deep-diving whale species stranding on northern European shores. Over a period of just over two weeks, 36 beaked whales and pilot whales were found in locations from western and southern Ireland to Orkney, Norfolk, the Netherlands and southern Sweden. The animals appeared to have entered shallow seas where they could not forage for their usual foods such as deep-sea squid.
The widespread locations of these events is provoking serious concern, especially among volunteer groups who work to save the stranded whales – without success, in all of the above cases….
Of course, correlation is not necessarily causation, but it seems remarkable that the one thing that has massively increased in our seas over the last thirty years – offshore wind farms – is studiously ignored by the article.
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This may have absolutely nothing to do with offshore wind farms, but I log it here, just incase:
“‘Very rare’ whale found dead on beach”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy5p50eld1ro
A “very rare” species of whale has been found dead on a beach, a wildlife trust has said.
Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) said the pygmy sperm whale, which was about 11ft-13ft (3.5m-4m) long, was found dead at Bigbury on Sea on Monday.
The trust said it was rarely seen alive in UK waters and there was “only a handful” of strandings since records by the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) started in the 1990s....
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“Dolphins die after mass stranding off Cumbria coast”
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/25492957.adult-dolphin-calf-die-mass-stranding-cumbrian-coast/
A MASS stranding of dolphins on the Cumbrian coast has left one adult and a calf dead – with teams from West Cumbria working hard to save the other two mammals.
On September, 22 British Divers Marine Life Rescue responded to a report of a mass stranding involving four common dolphins on the Cumbrian coast – two adults, a juvenile, and a calf….
…Cetaceans can strand for a variety of reasons. Some may be compromised by illness, disease, injury, entanglement, malnutrition, maternal separation, or age-related conditions. Others may be apparently healthy but strand due to navigational errors, strong social bonds, or disturbance from underwater noise.…
It may – or may not – be a coincidence that this disturbing incident occurred in the vicinity of the Robin Rigg offshore wind farm. As usual, the media don’t even consider the possibility that there might be a connection. I can’t see that the story features on the BBC website at all.
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