(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A recent spike in unexplained whale deaths prompted the Center for Biological Diversity, which advocates for endangered animals, to quietly notify Democrat officials that the development of offshore wind farms may be the cause.
CBD sent a letter to 50 Democratic senators, notifying them that the development of the farms is likely what is putting the North Atlantic whales in danger.
According to the Daily Caller, the CBD’s letter called out Democrats for sneaking a provision into the 2023 fiscal year omnibus bill allowing for lobster fisheries to avoid environmental regulations.
The bill passed, and the CBD reacted by calling the Democrats’ decision an “unprecedented extinction rider” that put whales at greater risk.
Another activist group, known as Clean Ocean Action, called for a federal investigation into the deaths of whales after six dead humpback and sperm whales washed ashore in a 33-day period.
COA’s press release included suspicions that the deaths of the whales has something to do with the development of offshore wind farms.
This idea drew the ire of several other environmental advocacy groups, such as the far-left Sierra Club, which called the theory “unfounded and premature.”
There are six offshore wind farms in development off the New Jersey coast, ranging hundreds of miles.
The CBD’s letter to Congress argued that if fisheries did not face tighter restrictions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would likely need to halt the development of offshore wind farms in order to protect endangered whales.
“Without conservation measures to protect right whales from entanglements, this legislation will likely mean that all offshore wind development along the Atlantic seaboard will have to cease operation in order for NOAA Fisheries to meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act an Marine Mammal Protection Act to ensure that the right whale population does not decline even further towards extinction,” the CBD wrote.
Although the involvement of the wind farms in the deaths of the whales remains unconfirmed, NOAA scientist Sean Hayes warned that the increased mortality rates of the leviathan would be a likely side effect.
“Additional noise, vessel traffic and habitat modifications due to offshore wind development will likely cause added stress that could result in additional population consequences to a species that is already experiencing rapid decline,” Hayes said.
