State and local lawmakers and city mayors are calling for a temporary pause in ocean floor work after an eighth dead whale washed ashore in New Jersey this week, reigniting the debate about the impact of offshore wind-farm development on marine life and calling for an immediate halt to plans to build dozens of offshore wind turbines.
“We are concerned about the impacts these [offshore wind] projects may already be having on our environment,” the mayors stated in a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
But NOAA says the deaths are not related to the wind turbines.
“I want to be unambiguous: There is no information supporting that any of the equipment used in support of offshore wind development could directly lead to the death of a whale,” wrote Benjamin Laws, NOAA deputy chief, permits and conservation division….