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Wind Power News: Wildlife
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Offshore wind farms are detrimental to whales
Since 2016, more than 200 humpback whales have died and been stranded on beaches along the East Coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA). In fact, NOAA is so concerned about the sheer number of dead humpback whales in this region that it has labeled the situation an “unusual mortality event.” Likewise, NOAA has declared an “unusual mortality event” regarding the mysterious mass deaths of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale along the East Coast. As NOAA . . . Complete story »
Federal government proposes wind farm in the middle of a whale migration route
In what is believed to be a world first, the federal government has proposed developing an offshore wind farm in the middle of a whale super highway off Western Australia’s southwest coast. Each year, tens of thousands of whales use the water in and around Geographe Bay on their annual migration to Antarctica. The bay is described as a pristine marine ecosystem off Bunbury, about 168km south of Perth, and stretches 98km along the coastline to Cape Naturaliste, between Dunsborough . . . Complete story »
Potential impact of wind farms on monarch butterflies understudied, experts say
The prospect of thousands of offshore wind turbines spinning in the waters between New York and New Jersey may have unintended consequences for threatened monarch butterflies that migrate from Long Island beaches each fall, scientists and conservationists say. A recent draft environmental impact study of the impact of offshore wind turbines in the New York Bight – the ocean waters off New York and New Jersey – made only brief and passing mention of the Monarchs, which congregate on South Shore beaches . . . Complete story »
Meet the expert on turbine eagle deaths the wind energy industry turned on
Back in the late 1990s, ecologist Shawn Smallwood didn’t think much about connecting avian and bat deaths with the whooshing blades of wind turbines. It was a concept foreign to him. But then a long-distance jogging partner he worked with at the University of California-Davis asked him to tag along in a “fatality search” with dogs to sniff out dead bird and bat carcasses caused by the thousands of turbines that dot the picturesque Altamont Pass, a low-lying mountainous region . . . Complete story »
Infrasound from wind turbines could be ‘a huge threat to the entire biodiversity’: doctor
More than 70,000 wind turbines operate across the United States, and the U.S. government continues to approve offshore wind projects as part of its transition toward clean energy. When wind turbines rotate, however, they generate not only electricity but also infrasound. For Dr. Ursula Bellut-Staeck, this development represents “a huge problem for all forms of organisms,” including humans. The medical doctor and scientific author has been studying the health effects of infrasound for several years. She has been looking into . . . Complete story »
Right whales seem to not be a concern in new plans
Massachusetts fishermen say feds are hypocritical in Gulf of Maine wind energy designation. A move to designate two million acres in the Gulf of Maine as a hub for wind energy is snagging a sharp hook from Massachusetts fishermen who say the development overlooks risks to the North Atlantic right whale. A handful of Bay State fishermen advocacy groups are teaming with counterparts from across New England in criticizing the Biden administration’s plans to industrialize the area off the coasts . . . Complete story »
Biden administration sued over Virginia offshore wind farm approval
A conservative think tank on Monday sued the Biden administration in an effort to reverse approval of what would be the largest offshore wind farm of its kind. The Heartland Institute filed the suit with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a nonprofit that advocates for an economically libertarian approach to environmental action and has denied the existence of human-caused climate change. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to reverse the National . . . Complete story »
Noise from offshore wind turbines may lead to whale extinction, environmentalists say
Imagine living amid noise as loud as a rock concert, all day, every day. Environmentalists say that’s exactly what will happen to all sea creatures—from fish to whales to clams—in the waters around the massive offshore wind farms planned for the eastern coast of the United States. The spinning windmills will be so loud, they say, that people at the beach will hear them, too. Offshore wind farms create airborne, underwater and seabed noise vibrations, Bob Stern, president of Save . . . Complete story »
Serious environmental concerns on proposed Mannar windpower facility
Proposed 250 MW windpower facility on Mannar Island would block the most important migratory bird corridor in Sri Lanka. Mannar is one of the oldest cities in Sri Lanka dating back to the maritime Silk Road and the trade routes between India and Sri Lanka. It also has some of the most important wintering wetlands for migratory birds in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a signatory nation for the United Nations Convention of Migratory Species (CMS). Hence, we have a global . . . Complete story »
U.S. sets plans to protect endangered whales near offshore wind farms
Of the 360 right whales left in the ocean, only 70 are reproductively active females. Complete story »
