ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Two federal environmental agencies announced plans Thursday to better protect endangered whales during offshore wind farm development.
That move came when two offshore wind developers announced they were switching projects.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released final plans to protect endangered North American right whales, of which there are only about 360 left in the world.
The agencies said they are trying to find ways to better protect the whales amid a wave of offshore wind farm projects, especially on the U.S. East Coast. They plan to explore ways to mitigate the potential negative impacts of offshore wind energy projects on the whales and their habitat.
The strategy will use artificial intelligence and passive acoustic monitoring to determine where the whales are at any given time and monitor the impact of wind development on the animals.
It also calls for avoiding the granting of offshore wind leases in areas where major impacts to whales could occur; establishing noise limits during construction; supporting research to develop new harm reduction technologies; and make it a priority to develop quieter technology and operational methods for offshore wind energy development.
They also want to carry out a ‘robust sound field verification’ of offshore wind activities to ensure noise levels are not louder than expected.
The news came about an hour before companies Equinor and energy giant BP announced they would swap leases for offshore wind projects in New York and Massachusetts.
The deal calls for Equinor to take full ownership of the Empire Wind lease and projects, and for BP to take full ownership of the Beacon Wind lease and projects.
The companies said the swap will be a “cash neutral transaction,” although Equinor said it would cost a loss of about $200 million.
“We are now taking full ownership of a mature, large-scale offshore wind project in a major energy market, where we have built a strong local organization,” said Pal Eitrheim, executive vice president at Equinor.
Equinor won the Empire Wind lease in 2017 and the Beacon Wind lease in 2019. In 2020, BP bought a 50% stake in both projects.
While opponents of offshore wind energy projects blame them for a spate of whale deaths on the East Coast over the past 13 months, the organizations say climate change is the biggest threat to whales. They and other scientific bodies say there is no evidence that offshore wind preparation work harms or kills whales. Many of them have been struck by ships or become entangled in fishing gear.
Of the 360 whales left in the ocean, only 70 are reproductively active females.
“Climate change affects every aspect of the whale’s survival. It changes their ocean habitat, their migration patterns, the location and availability of their prey and even their risk of becoming entangled in fishing gear or struck by ships,” the agencies said. in a statement.
In a separate report issued Monday, NOAA said there were 67 confirmed large whale entanglements nationwide in 2022, the most recent years for which statistics are available. That is slightly lower than the previous year and below the annual average of 71, the agency said.
In addition to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear, which are the leading causes of whale death or injury, low female survival, a male-dominated sex ratio, and low calving rates contribute to the current population decline. The species also has low genetic diversity due to its small size, the agencies said.
As of September 2023, there were 30 offshore wind farms along the east coast, the two agencies said. Construction and operation plans have been submitted to BOEM for 18 of these at the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelter, including projects under construction in Massachusetts and New York.
All of these projects are expected to use fixed foundation turbines, although future leasing plans further offshore will consider the use of floating technology, the agencies said.
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