Another dead whale

[hammer4reel]

Originally Posted by Gumada

NOT TRUE, YOU NEED TO LOOK AT THE ENTIRE PLAN FOR NJ/NY. STOP PROPAGATION OF CR@P INFORMATION ! They have a plan for all of the east coast !

His information is accurate for those 2 areas .

A lot of info here , though need to get redirected many times to see whole impacts

https://dep.nj.gov/offshorewind/

[Gerry Zagorski]

Dead whales are washing ashore on the East Coast and officials are looking into animal safety near wind farms


BYWAYNE PARRY AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 3, 2023 at 10:51 AM EST



As dead whales continue to wash ashore on the U.S. East Coast — and particularly the Jersey Shore — officials and academics are planning a wide array of monitoring and research aimed at preventing or minimizing harm to whales and other marine life during construction and operation of offshore wind farms.



A dead whale washed ashore Thursday in New Jersey, a day after another was found in New York amid a continuing wave of whale deaths along the East Coast. Twenty-five of the animals have died since Dec. 1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.



A research and monitoring initiative announced last year by New Jersey environmental and utility regulators is launching numerous projects to establish a baseline of current ocean conditions, with plans for monitoring while wind farms are built and operated.



The $26 million program is funded — but not carried out — by the offshore wind companies Orsted and Atlantic Shores, which are required by the state to pay for the research as part of their projects.



Similar wind-related research is being carried out by states from Maine to South Carolina, officials said.



The research was announced well before a spate of whale deaths became politicized, with opponents of offshore wind blaming the deaths on site preparation work for wind farms off New Jersey and New York. Various elected officials are pushing for a pause or a total halt to offshore wind projects, citing the whale deaths.



But three federal scientific agencies — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the Marine Mammal Commission — say there is no evidence linking offshore wind activities to whale deaths.



The federal government has been studying whale deaths since it declared an “unusual mortality event” involving humpbacks in 2016. Since then, 186 of the animals have died between Maine and Florida, with a high of 34 in 2017.



The New Jersey work includes placing listening devices on the ocean floor to record the presence of whales and other marine mammals in a specific area, and deploying an undersea glider equipped with sensors that can hear whale calls. It also includes tracking the movement of various fish species and using environmental DNA to tell which animals have been in specific areas of the ocean.



Some of the efforts are already underway, including a sound recorder operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on a buoy off Atlantic City, while others are set to begin as soon as next month.



“We have the opportunity to get the lay of the land,” said Kira Lawrence, of the state Board of Public Utilities, who gave an update this week on the projects. “It’s important that we get a handle on what is out there and how is it changing right now. We can get a sense of when and where whales are around project areas.”



Other work involved in the initiative includes the development of a special dredge for surf clams that can maneuver more easily in tight spaces around wind farms, supporting a regional multi-state wildlife study, and the possible use of wind turbine platforms as monitoring stations for wildlife and environmental conditions.

The update on the research work came amid a continuing wave of whale deaths along the East Coast.



Necropsies were conducted on 13 of the 25 whales that have washed ashore since Dec. 1, revealing that ship strikes were the likely cause of at least eight of the deaths, said NOAA spokesperson Andrea Gomez. The agency is awaiting the results of microscopic tissue samples on the remaining animals, she added.



The breakdown of deaths by species is: 18 humpback whales between New York and North Carolina; 3 sperm whales between New York and Florida; two North Atlantic right whales in North Carolina and Virginia; one sei whale in North Carolina and one minke whale in New York, according to NOAA.



New York has several similar research projects underway, including the use of miniature transmitting tags for birds and bats near offshore wind farms, a study of how sea birds might interact with wind turbines, and creation of a database to incorporate anglers’ knowledge into offshore wind decisions.



New Jersey projects not yet approved for funding, but which are envisioned, include sea turtle tagging to monitor their movements, and expanding studies of birds and bats.



During an online presentation of the initiative Monday by state officials, opponents of offshore wind renewed complaints about the wind turbines’ visibility from shore and voiced fears that wind projects will harm or kill wildlife.



“I just want to make sure we don’t permanently remove these beautiful animals from our coastline,” said Randall Snyder, a radiologist from Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, one of several hotbeds of local opposition to offshore wind.

[Dutchie]

Come on folks they killed a thousand whales in Europe and they know why How many do they have to kill here before they're stopped More whales this year than in previous years combined give me a break

[Gumada]

Here ya go...

Take
Take is defined under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) as "to harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal" (16 U.S.C. 1362) and further defined by regulation (50 CFR 216.3) as "to harass, hunt, capture, collect, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, collect, or kill any marine mammal. This includes, without limitation, any of the following:

the collection of dead animals, or parts thereof

the restraint or detention of a marine mammal, no matter how temporary

tagging a marine mammal

the negligent or intentional operation of an aircraft or vessel

the doing of any other negligent or intentional act which results in disturbing or molesting a marine mammal

feeding or attempting to feed a marine mammal in the wild"

Take is defined under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as "to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct."

[Broad Bill]

As soon as the news came out regarding vessel speed restrictions, I think most people knew it was a cover for what was about to come from the commencement of seismic testing for wind farm development. If recreational and or commercial vessels pose such a threat to the whale and porpoise population, answer two questions. I've been fishing the offshore canyons for over 20 years and as anybody who goes offshore knows, you search out schools of whales and porpoise to find the bait and pelagics. Not once in all my years offshore have I ever hit, seen hit, or witnessed a dead carcass. I'm curious how many members on this site have. And that takes into consideration the amount of times when you get offshore there's so many boats out there it looks like Manhattan, yet still no vessel strikes. As long as mammals aren't bombarded with sound waves, they know where vessels are and steer clear. Take that ability away and they're extremely vulnerable.

Second, if you do the research, ship traffic out of the New York / New Jersey harbor which is the second largest port in the country, is down 40% since late last year in terms of the number of cargo ships entering and or departing the port. Whales were absolutely all over the place this year inshore on schools of bunker and sand eels which is why there were so many party boats that got in on whale watching. Unprecedented numbers of whales and porpoise not seen in years. If the powers to be want us to believe that what's happened over the last 2 months is due to whale strikes and not seismic testing, why didn't we see an upsurge in the summer months that coincided with the increase in the population in both commercial and recreational boat traffic in this area and the increased whale population. I don't recall reading of one mammal washing ashore in the summer and fall yet all these carcasses started showing up at the exact time seismic testing started. Coincidence, I guess everybody can draw their own conclusions but personally I don't buy it. I believe science knows what happened, but like everything else in our government today the story we're told is the narrative they want us to hear and not the story science's data supports. After all, does anybody really believe China paid Hunter Biden $500,000 for the artistic value of his paint by number paintings or the federal government along with the military's scientists never knew the water at Camp Lejeune was completely contaminated for decades.

[Gumada]

Originally Posted by Broad Bill

As soon as the news came out regarding vessel speed restrictions, I think most people knew it was a cover for what was about to come from the commencement of seismic testing for wind farm development. If recreational and or commercial vessels pose such a threat to the whale and porpoise population, answer two questions. I've been fishing the offshore canyons for over 20 years and as anybody who goes offshore knows, you search out schools of whales and porpoise to find the bait and pelagics. Not once in all my years offshore have I ever hit, seen hit, or witnessed a dead carcass. I'm curious how many members on this site have. And that takes into consideration the amount of times when you get offshore there's so many boats out there it looks like Manhattan, yet still no vessel strikes. As long as mammals aren't I bombarded with sound waves, they know where vessels are and steer clear. Take that ability away and they're extremely vulnerable.

Second, if you do the research, ship traffic out of the New York / New Jersey harbor which is the second largest port in the country, is down 40% since late last year in terms of the number of cargo ships entering and or departing the port. Whales were absolutely all over the place this year inshore on schools of bunker and sand eels which is why there were so many party boats that got in on whale watching. Unprecedented numbers of whales and porpoise not seen in years. If the powers to be want us to believe that what's happened over the last 2 months is due to whale strikes and not seismic testing, why didn't we see an upsurge in the summer months that coincided with the increase in the population in both commercial and recreational boat traffic in this area and the increased whale population. I don't recall reading of one mammal washing ashore in the summer and fall yet all these carcasses started showing up at the exact time seismic testing started. Coincidence, I guess everybody can draw their own conclusions but personally I don't buy it. I believe science knows what happened, but like everything else in our government today the story we're told is the narrative they want us to hear and not the story science's data supports After all, does anybody really believe China paid Hunter Biden $500,000 for the artistic value of his paint by number paintings or the federal government along with the military's scientists never knew the water at Camp Lejeune was completely contaminated for decades.

I have fished my entire life from LI, raritan bay to AC and out to the Hudson and southern canyons...never have I seen or heard of a whale being struck by a boat or seen a dead whale. I do believe occasionally a whale is struck by a large cargo type vessel, but those are very few and far between. Same with entanglements, never seen one only heard of an occasional situation.

[Broad Bill]

I think everyone understands occasional strikes happen but this is unprecedented numbers within a very short window that coincides precisely with the timeline wind farm testing began. I'm also one that agrees science and the data they develop is critical in decision making but these occurrences are just too related to be an anomaly or coincidence. The narrative released will never risk the ongoing development of wind farms any more than the tobacco companies for years would admit nicotine caused cancer and was addictive or the NFL admitted constant blunt force trauma caused CTE. In both those cases, science knew the consequential damages but the powers to be ignored the data and spun a different narrative completely. In my opinion, that's what's happening here.

[CODCHALY]

I was on two boats that hit Whales on way to TUNA Grounds. Both Hits removed Prop shafts, and in the darkest of night. One out of Belmar ( highly respected Charter Capt). Won't name Boat or Capt. Early 1990's.
Another, more recent, again, darkest of night. Same , Headed to TUNA Grounds
again, took whole prop shaft.
I am one lucky Person. Have any of You experienced how FAST a repair at Sea must be made, when taking on Water. Every Passenger, both Times became Crew !!!

[Gumada]

Originally Posted by CODCHALY

I was on two boats that hit Whales on way to TUNA Grounds. Both Hits removed Prop shafts, and in the darkest of night. One out of Belmar ( highly respected Charter Capt). Won't name Boat or Capt. Early 1990's.
Another, more recent, again, darkest of night. Same , Headed to TUNA Grounds
again, took whole prop shaft.
I am one lucky Person. Have any of You experienced how FAST a repair at Sea must be made, when taking on Water. Every Passenger, both Times became Crew !!!

Were they reported ? In the darkest of night

[bbfisherman]

2019 had a whale encounter. Very scary we were lucky lost one engine damaged two others. With that said all these whales dying or getting hit within the last several months is not normal.