Offshore wind energy and whales

The increased frequency of whale strandings along the U.S. East Coast since 2016 has attracted a noteworthy amount of public interest.

Speculation about the cause of this Unusual Mortality Event (UME) suggested a link between these strandings and the offshore wind energy development taking place along the coast. In 2024, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) debunked this speculation, stating that there is “no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales.” (NOAA 2024).

In this briefing note, we outline what the most likely causes for the observed increase in whale deaths are and discuss the potential benefits to whales from offshore wind farms, highlighting that the development of offshore wind farms is not considered a significant threat to whale populations if the risks are adequately assessed and adequate mitigation measures are implemented. The three main categories of potential impact to whales from offshore wind energy were used to guide this analysis:

• Underwater noise (including auditory injury and displacement)
• Vessel collisions
• Entanglement

Categories: Renewable Energy, Industry Briefing Notes