Is there any truth to these claims? To find out, we called Professor Andy Read, the director of Duke University’s Marine Lab.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Rhode Island is the first state in the country to build an offshore wind farm, and there are plans for many more. But recently, opponents of wind energy have claimed offshore wind is harming whales and other marine mammals.
Is there any truth to these claims? To find out, we called Professor Andy Read, the director of Duke University’s Marine Lab.
Andy Read: I have the world’s best job. So I get to travel to really interesting places to study mostly whales, dolphins, and porpoises and the world’s oceans.
Megan Hall: We’re not the first people to ask Andy about the claim that offshore wind farms cause whale deaths.
Megan Hall: As a whale expert, are other people coming to you, are you seeing reports of these complaints?
Andy Read: Very much, I spend a lot of time doing interviews.
Megan Hall: And he tells everyone the same thing.
Andy Read: There is no evidence linking offshore wind development to the deaths of any whales along the east coast.
Megan Hall: Scientists take a close look at every whale that washes up on shore.
Andy Read: By far the leading causes of death are ship strikes, those are whales that have been struck and killed by large ships, and entanglement in fishing gear.
Megan Hall: As for offshore wind farms-
Andy Read: We have no evidence whatsoever linking any wind energy development to the death of any whale.
Megan Hall: But right now, the US only has one, small, offshore wind farm. What happens near bigger projects, like in Europe?
Andy Read: What we’ve seen in Europe is that species that are particularly sensitive to human causes of sound, will move away from those construction activities. But then will come back after a short period of time, when the construction has stopped.
Megan Hall: He says afterwards, when the wind farms are up and running…
Andy Read: The operation of the turbines seem to have very little effect on any of the smaller marine mammals. With one potential exception- the base of the turbines create new habitat. So, certain seals actually specialize on forging around those turbines. I think the same thing might be true for recreational fisheries in New England, for example, that’s new habitat that recreational fishermen might be able to take advantage of.
Megan Hall: Andy says they can’t make conclusions about how European wind farms affect bigger mammals like whales, because …
Andy Read: unfortunately, in Europe, there are very few large whales like the humpback whales that we see frequently off the US East Coast, nor their North Atlantic right whales.
Megan Hall: there’s the possibility that back in the US, right whales could be temporarily affected by the construction of large wind farms, where more boats might be passing through their territory. But…
Andy Read: I don’t think that that would be a measurable effect, because there’s so much traffic there already. And right whales have to navigate this gauntlet as they move from their breeding grounds in Florida and Georgia to New England and then eastern Canada to feed.
Megan Hall: But, he says, we already know what will happen to these whales if we don’t build wind farms.
Andy Read: if we don’t invest in renewable energy, and we continue to rely on traditional fossil fuels, that that will mean more tankers, more shipping. And we know that those large vessels already pose a significant risk to the population.
Megan Hall: Andy says, the best way to protect whales is to address the things that are most likely to kill them- getting hit by fast ships, and tangled in fishing gear. And that’s not even considering the threat climate change itself poses to whales and the rest of life in the ocean.
Megan Hall: That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the public’s radio dot org slash possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
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Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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