NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — As the offshore wind projects in New Jersey advance, the state is spending nearly $4 million on studying wildlife migration patterns.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette says the $3.7 million in funding will pay for several important initiatives to monitor and protect wildlife in the Atlantic.
Tracking devices will be placed on whales and sea turtles.
LaTourette says some of the information they gather from tagging whales might help explain why there’s been an increase in marine mammals washing ashore.
“We should continually expand our scientific understanding so that we know more. Because when you know better, you do better,” he said.
LaTourette says because of the changing climate and warming ocean, the fish whales feed on have changed their patterns and potentially drawn whales closer to shipping lanes, so changing those lanes may be one idea to keep them safe.
Money will also go toward extending the season for aerial monitoring of whales, plus $1 million toward sea turtle monitoring to better understand dive patterns near offshore leasing areas 40 miles out at sea.
“Everything we do on our landscape and across our watersheds has an externality,” he said.
“We’re studying those externalities so that we can make sure that as we pursue the development of renewable energy sectors, we’re doing so in the most responsible manner possible.”