ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — The cause of death for some of the whales that recently washed up at the Jersey Shore remains under investigation. Meanwhile, environmentalists gathered in Atlantic City on Tuesday to dispel what they say are some myths about potential links to the state’s offshore wind program.
Whale deaths have been on the rise along the East Coast since 2016. Activists say this recent spike isn’t the result of offshore wind exploration, as has been suggested on social media.
Marine conservation advocate Capt. Paul Eidman says there’s a lot of chatter online from misinformed people claiming the whales were killed by survey vessels using sonar.
“The reality is that we don’t know that,” Eidman said. “And we need to wait for the science and for the necropsy to show exactly the results, ok?”
Alison McCloud, public policy director at the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, says it’s been confirmed that at least two of the whales were hit by boats, and those weren’t working on offshore wind development.
“There is no evidence that any of the recent strandings, so far, have been tied to offshore wind, that they have in fact been from vessel strikes. And we know that vessel strikes and fish entanglement from fishing gear, ghost nets, are some of the biggest threats to marine mammals,” McCloud said.
Related
“The number one threat facing our marine ecosystems today, including marine mammals, is climate change.”
State Sen. Vince Polistina suggests a brief pause of about a month on offshore wind activity to further investigate.
“Take a deep breath, try to figure out what’s happening. I think that’s the responsible thing to do,” Polistina said. “There’s something going on. We need to figure it out, and hopefully we can work together to do that.”
McCloud said she agrees with Polistina it would be best if they all worked together to solve the problem.
Related
