Saving Seafood

Hundreds of NJ residents rally against green energy over environmental concerns

February 21, 2023 — Hundreds of local residents in a coastal New Jersey town rallied over the weekend, calling for a federal moratorium on offshore wind energy development until the recent uptick in whale deaths was determined.

During the rally in Point Pleasant Beach, lawmakers, local officials and environmentalists expressed concern that offshore wind construction played a role in the deaths of at least 10 whales that have been discovered over the last two months in New Jersey and New York. Additional dead whales have been found beached in other East Coast states, including Maryland and Virginia, since December.

“Today, the whales are sending us a tragic message that demands transparency and accountability — both of which has been sorely missing from Governor Murphy’s plan to use New Jersey’s coast as the prime location for the offshore wind industry in the U.S.,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said during the rally on Sunday. “Questions and concerns raised by me and many others have gone unanswered concerning the unexplained deaths of at least 10 whales.”

Read the full article at Fox News

BOEM Proposes Archaeological Rules as Criticism of Offshore Wind Grows

February 15, 2023 — Faced with a broad range of criticisms over the development of offshore wind farms, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing steps that it says are designed to ensure that wind farms cohabitate with other ocean users and reduce potential harm in the ocean environment. The latest proposals address marine archaeological resources following steps at the end of 2022 to work with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries division.

To better protect shipwrecks and other cultural resources on the seabed from harm due to offshore energy activities, BOEM is proposing regulatory changes to its marine archaeology reporting requirements for activities on the Outer Continental Shelf. A notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comment will publish in the Federal Register on February 15, for a 60-day comment period ending on April 17, 2023.

BOEM says that after evaluating over 40 years of empirical evidence collected by and for the oil and gas industry, academic institutions, and state and federal agencies, it has determined that previously undiscovered archaeological resources may be present in any part of the OCS, regardless of the lack of any historical or predictive modeling evidence.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

 

Ninth whale death renews calls in New Jersey to halt offshore wind projects

February 15, 2023 — A whale washed ashore in Manasquan, New Jersey, on Monday – the ninth whale found dead since early December on the New York-New Jersey shores — further stoking the debate about what’s causing the frequent mortalities along the Atlantic Coast.

“I’m currently standing on the beach a few hundred feet from the Manasquan Inlet watching yet another dead whale wash into the surf,” Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra posted on Facebook on Monday. “Governor, when do these stop becoming coincidences? How many more will it take?”

What’s behind the whale mortalities has not been clearly established, but theories abound. Some local activists and officials blame offshore wind development in the region, claiming construction of the sites causes harm to marine animals. But federal officials have pushed back, saying that’s not what the evidence shows.

Read the full article at CBS News

VRIGINIA: Endangered North Atlantic right whale washes ashore in Virginia Beach

February 15, 2023 — A 43-foot North Atlantic right whale washed ashore Sunday near Aeires on the Bay Park.

A necropsy was slated for today by the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center Stranding Response Program and NOAA. Officials estimate the whale was 20 years old.

Last week, the Virginia Beach Marine Patrol pulled a dead 36-foot humpback whale ashore near First Landing State Park. In the humpback’s necropsy, the stranding team used a technique they call “peeling the banana,” in which they split the whale from mouth to tail, catalog and take samples. The samples help researchers determine the mammal’s diet, the health of its organs and potential cause of death.

“It is helpful to know that, even though it has passed away, we can still learn something from it,” said Caryl Thompson, chief operating officer at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center.

The whale was then buried on the beach.

Read the full article at The Virginian-Pilot

NEW JERSEY: ‘Alarming & unprecedented’ — Why did whale wash up on Manasquan, NJ beach?

February 15, 2023 — A whale floating in the ocean off Manasquan Inlet Monday washed ashore late in the afternoon and reignited the debate over why it’s happening and whether or not work related to wind turbines is to blame.

Necropsy teams from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center and Atlantic Marine Conservation Society were on Manasquan Beach Tuesday morning. They identified the whale as a 35-foot juvenile female that was first seen along the Jersey Shore on Jan. 7, according to NOAA Fisheries.

The whale is being moved to the Monmouth County landfill in Tinton Falls where the whale will be examined, tissue samples taken and a necropsy will be performed.

Read the full article at New Jersey 101.5

Third dead whale found miles from offshore wind farm in less than a week

February 15, 2023 — The third dead whale was discovered in less than a week off the southeastern coast of Virginia, miles from Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW), one of two operational wind farms in federal waters.

Over the weekend, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale was discovered washed ashore near Chic’s Beach which is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed to Fox News Digital on Monday. According to local news outlets, there was no immediate cause of death and the whale didn’t appear to have any entanglement marks.

The discovery of the beached right whale came just two days after a humpback whale was found dead along the shoreline in Cape Charles, Virginia, and five days after a dead humpback whale was found off the coast of First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.

“There have been 3 large whale strandings in VA over the past week, two humpbacks and more recently a North Atlantic right whale,” NOAA spokesperson Allison Ferreira told Fox News Digital in an email. “We are investigating all of these incidents in collaboration with our stranding network partners.”

Read the full article at Fox News

BOEM Releases Environmental Plan for Next Offshore Wind Farm

February 14, 2023 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is moving forward with the next key step for the development of one of Massachusetts’ offshore wind farms even as the project has sought to renegotiate the key part of its plan. The federal government continues to push forward on its efforts for renewable energy from offshore wind keeping its focus on deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030.

“BOEM continues to make significant progress toward achieving this Administration’s vision for a clean energy future – one that will combat climate change, create jobs to support families, and?ensure economic opportunities are accessible to all communities,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “In our review of offshore wind projects, we are committed to working collaboratively with our tribal, state, and local government partners as well as using the best available science to avoid or minimize conflict with existing users and marine life.”

Today, February 13, BOEM announced the availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed SouthCoast Wind (formerly Mayflower Wind) energy project offshore Massachusetts. It begins a process of a 45-day comment period as part of the review by BOEM as the project moves into the final stage of permitting and approvals.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

The offshore wind and whales public relations duel

February 14, 2023 — This winter’s grim series of dead whales on East Coast beaches brought on a simmering public relations battle, as opponents and supporters of offshore wind energy projects work to shape the debate.

Stranded whales on New York and New Jersey beaches in December and January brought out the Clean Ocean Action environmental group and allies from beach towns and commercial fishermen who have been fighting for years against offshore wind development in the New York Bight.

They demanded that all work be suspended on offshore projects while the whale deaths are investigated. The calls grew louder in recent days, with another humpback whale and a highly endangered North Atlantic right whale found in Virginia.

Yet another whale washed up at Manasquan, N.J. Monday afternoon. One witness was Mayor Paul Kanitra from neighboring Point Pleasant Beach, who was one of a dozen Jersey Shore mayors who signed a recent letter to federal officials demanding a moratorium on offshore wind work pending an investigation of the whale deaths.

“It’s the size of a bus and it could easily come ashore in Point Pleasant Beach,” Kanitra wrote in a Facebook post, addressing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. “I guarantee you if it does we will personally test it and get to the bottom of this. Governor, when do these stop becoming coincidences? How many more will it take?”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Whales Are Dying Along the East Coast. And a Fight Is Surfacing Over Who’s to Blame

February 14, 2023 — In mid-January, threatening social media messages started showing up on the accounts of a small New Jersey organization devoted to rescuing ocean mammals that wash up on the beach. Some said “we’re watching you.” Others accused staff of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) being “whale murderers.” Some people wrote that they were going to show up at the group’s Brigantine, N.J., headquarters and “make” members of the wildlife organization “come to [their] side.” “You don’t know what they’re gonna do,” says Michele Pagel, 49, the group’s assistant director. “Are they gonna march in here and put a gun to somebody’s head?”

Staff members contacted local police, and they started locking the doors to the group’s office. In late January, someone left the door unlocked, and a man burst into the office and approached the secretary. “He just starts [yelling], ‘I want to know, I demand to know,’” says Shelia Dean, 75, the group’s director. “He was very frightening.”

Along with picking up sick baby seals and dolphins, the MMSC helps to carry out examinations on the bodies of dead whales when they wash up on the shores of New York and New Jersey in order to collect scientific data, and hopefully help determine a cause of death. And in recent months, whales have been washing up on these shores with alarming frequency. Eight large whales, including sperm whales and humpbacks, have washed up in the area since December. Those deaths have become a focal point in the clean energy culture war, with conservative media commentators blaming them on preliminary site-mapping work for offshore wind developments. But evidence to support those claims hasn’t turned up. That’s brought down the ire of many people opposed to offshore wind on small animal welfare organizations like MMSC for supposedly hiding the truth of what killed those whales.

The work to actually examine those carcasses is grueling and tedious. It involves sourcing backhoes or other construction equipment to maneuver the school bus-sized animals, taking measurements, and then, when possible, undertaking difficult necropsies. A trailer parked in front of the MMSC’s offices houses the necessary equipment: smocks and boots, along with large knives and hooks for pulling off layers of cetacean skin and blubber to examine the animal and take tissue samples. It’s a messy, smelly business. In humpback whales, gasses from the whale’s putrefying innards often begin to swell the sack under the whale’s mouth. If it bursts, it can splatter anyone standing nearby with whale guts. If a whale had broken bones from being hit by a ship, for instance, the necropsy can help examiners tell if the ship strike occurred before or after the whale died. MMSC and other groups that collaborate on the necropsies then forward that information to the federal government, which provides some of their funding.

Read the full article at Yahoo News