Assateague Whale Jan 2023

OCEAN CITY, Md. - The discovery of nearly two dozen dead whales washing up on the shores of the East Coast in recent months has raised concerns among lawmakers about the impact of offshore wind development on marine life.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan has called for a halt to offshore wind projects while a possible link between the deaths of whales and the development of offshore wind is investigated.

He stated that the recent increase in whale deaths along the Mid-Atlantic coast is cause for concern. 

"What we've seen with the last few months with the issues with the whales washing ashore all up and down the Mid-Atlantic coast in New Jersey, Ocean City, Assateague I think it's just heightened the concerns and brought them to a new level," he said.

Congressman Andy Harris has also called for a moratorium on offshore wind development in light of the whale deaths.

Harris believes that the federal government needs to do more to address the issue. 

"Obviously we've spent a lot of time over the last several decades trying to save the whales. Here we are, we have an unexplained number of whale deaths very coincidental with the sonic testing for off-shore wind."

While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reiterated that there is no direct link between offshore wind development and the deaths of whales, NOAA researchers have promised to continue investigating the cause of the deaths of these marine mammals.

Orsted, which is working on 60 to 70 wind turbines off the Delaware coast says that its contracted vessels have not experienced any whale strikes. It also clarified that it is not conducting any offshore survey activity for this project at the moment.

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