Whale Strandings Surge Along the East Coast

An increased number of whales washing up on local shores has many searching for answers.

Photo by Todd Cravens on Unsplash

Millions of years ago, land mammals made their way into the water and evolved into the enormous whales we know today. Those same whale species are now returning to land—but not of their own volition. So far this year, 12 humpback whales have been stranded along the East Coast, including six in New Jersey and one on Long Island's Lido Beach, along with one minke whale on Rockaway Beach in Queens. Vessel strike is likely the cause of both New York incidents, and more whales keep washing ashore by the week.

The humpback and minke are no stranger to the strandings. These baleen whales have both been facing an unusual mortality event for the past six to seven years. According to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which just celebrated 50 years, a UME is classified as an "unexpected…significant die-off of any marine mammal population." NOAA Fisheries suspects that of all the whales examined so far, around 40% of the humpbacks died from ship collision or entanglement, while 11 minkes suffered from human or fisheries interaction.

Neither humpback whales nor minke whales are endangered as a whole species, but the rise in their close contact with humans is not a coincidence, considering that the Port of New York and New Jersey finished off 2022 as the nation's second busiest shipping port. And thanks to climate change, whale prey, including menhaden fish, have been venturing closer to shore in search of plankton, which has shifted its distribution to escape the heat. In turn, the whales follow their food source to areas where greater human activity is present. 

Controversy over the strandings has stewed over whether the whales suffered due to ongoing developments in offshore wind technology. In the Garden State, a dozen Jersey Shore mayors penned a letter asking for offshore wind operations to cease until scientists prove that the whales did not die because of it. The debate has also turned political, with Fox News host Tucker Carlson calling it “The Biden Whale Extinction.”

Clean Ocean Action (COA), a New Jersey-based nonprofit, sent a letter to the president requesting a halt on all offshore wind activity in the Atlantic Ocean in response to the strandings. Cindy Zipf, COA's executive director, spoke to reporters in a press conference hosted by the organization in early January. "We believe steps are being skipped and things are being raced so quickly, that we haven't really done the good work that needs to be done to know whether or not these offshore wind facilities are causing harm," she said. 

With fossil fuels serving as the most generous contributor to global warming, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has fast-tracked its work with offshore wind companies, managing over 25 active commercial leases in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. No wind farms off the New York and New Jersey coasts have been fully developed yet. The ultimate goal, backed by the White House, is to produce 30 gigawatts of clean offshore energy by 2030. 

According to the American Geosciences Institute, offshore wind is steadier and faster than its onshore counterpart. The U.S. Department of Energy adds that offshore wind is the ideal complement to solar power—while the sun generates energy during the day, wind can take over at night. The U.S. consumes about 16% of the world's energy, so the transition to renewable sources of power can use all the efficiency it can get.

Under the MMPA, the NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources has the authority to issue Incidental Take Authorizations for these offshore activities, allowing renewable energy development that unintentionally harms marine mammals. Currently, there are 14 Incidental Take Authorizations for offshore wind production in the Atlantic region, with 11 in process. 

One activist group against the authorizations, Protect Our Coast NJ, photoshopped a picture on its website home page, inserting wind turbines into the background of an image of a beached, dead whale, stating that it "paints the real picture of what's to come." But of all the authorizations issued so far, only Level B harassment has been approved, which is defined as behavioral disturbance to marine mammals, not injury or mortality. Regardless, the concern remains as to the potential intensity of the behavioral disruption. In a January teleconference hosted by NOAA Fisheries, marine mammal experts spoke on the scientific context surrounding offshore wind production. 

To determine the best location for these wind farms, high resolution geophysical surveys are performed, whereby sound waves are used to map the physical features of the seafloor. This is in contrast to seismic airguns, which are used to locate deposits of oil and gas sources. "They're specifically designed to penetrate kilometers into the seafloor. So they're very high energy, very loud sources," said Erica Staaterman, a bioacoustician with BOEM's Center for Marine Acoustics.

On the other hand, HRG surveys operate at a higher sound frequency, which baleen whales, like humpbacks and minkes, cannot easily detect. In addition, they run for shorter periods of time, produce sound in concentrated directions and are overseen by professional spotters. "These are vessel-based surveys and during the use of the particular acoustic sources that we anticipate have the potential to have impacts on marine mammals, it is required that protected species observed be on duty at all times," said Benjamin Laws, deputy chief for the permits and conservation division of NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. 

Even so, the construction and operation of wind farms can potentially alter whale behavior, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. Whales even tens of miles away from pile driving, when turbine foundations are laid into the seabed, risk hearing impairment. "It's loud, and it booms through the water," said James Miller, the department chair of ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island, in a video interview. 

The noise from spinning turbines can only be detected up-close, according to Miller's research expeditions around the Block Island Wind Farm, which was the first to be constructed in the U.S. "The measurements we were taking were just 50 meters away from the wind turbine," he said. And yet, masking of baleen whale communication signals may appear in a habitat where no other sound but turbine noise is present.

However, the same 2006 study identified the sound intensity of a cargo ship to be much higher than the noisiest measured wind turbines. The whales of the industrial era have always had to contend with a soundscape full of human influence. Still, the conclusion stands that whales cannot die due to offshore wind activity. "In summary, at this point, based on the information that we do have, we do not believe that the evidence supports that those planned construction activities would exacerbate or compound these ongoing unusual mortality events," said Laws.

One solution to minimizing anthropogenic, or human-caused, impacts on whales is to enact vessel speed restrictions. Regulations are already in place along the eastern seaboard for the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. To reduce the effects of wind farm development, construction can take place when whales are not in the area, as they migrate from warm breeding grounds in southern waters to cold feeding grounds in the north. Since the acoustic effects of turbines are more pronounced for whales in proximity of the region, timing is everything. 

If you come across a whale on a New York beach, call the New York Stranding Hotline at (631) 369-9829. Attempting to approach or touch any marine mammal is illegal. You can also donate to the Marine Mammal UME Contingency Fund and support efforts to treat and study stranded animals. In the meantime, once more offshore wind farms are constructed in the U.S., only time will tell how this whale of a tale will play out.