Dead Whales and Wind Farms - the scientific connection
Science points to a link - but we must stick to the facts
In the UK, there were 3000 dead whales, dolphins and porpoises over a period of just 3 years. The highest ever number of cetacean strandings in recorded history proves that something is very wrong in our seas. This unprecedented increase coincides with the frenzied expansion of the offshore wind industry around the UK coast, so only a fool would deny a plausible link. But at the same time we must acknowledge that not every dead whale is due to wind farms…
Wind farms are not helping to ‘save the planet’…
Not every cetacean stranding event is caused by offshore wind farm development, of course it isn’t - and we must be honest about that, because blaming the industry for every single disaster won’t garner credibility or add weight to what we know is true - that the wind industry harms wildlife and the natural environment. Many of us believe that the industry is a sham, a money-making scheme that has somehow duped otherwise intelligent people into believing it is for the greater good - it isn’t and it’s not helping to ‘save the planet’ either.
Yorkshire, the Isle of Lewis, the USA and beyond
The science is important. While not every dead whale can be attributed to the wind industry, we must not lose sight of the facts - for example, the unusual mass mortalities of Sperm whales in Yorkshire in 2020, and Pilot whales on the Isle of Lewis in 2023, did seem to coincide with offshore wind farm activity and in my opinion it was probably a contributory factor in those stranding events. Delve deeper into the data and we might well discover a pattern emerging.
Similarly, in the USA, rising cetacean deaths are also increasing in line with offshore windfarm activities; whatever the cause, many species are affected and it might prove to be the final breaking point for the critically endangered Right whale, now on the verge of extinction.
Orkney
But a recent mass stranding of around 80 long-finned Pilot whales at Orkney, in Scotland, might be one of those cases where we have to find another reason for the tragedy. A little research suggests that the event on Orkney may not have been associated with the wind industry; the nearest documented offshore wind farm activity that I’ve found would have been more than a hundred miles distant from the stranding site and may not have been in progress at the time. If we assume that this was the case, then we can likely rule out the wind industry’s involvement in this particular stranding event. (If anyone has different or additional information regarding this then please get in touch.)
Perspective
With the Orkney stranding in mind, it’s really important that we retain perspective and remain pragmatic. If we become as fixated over every dead whale as some folks are over climate change - impetuous in our panic to bolster our arguments - then we will lose credibility very quickly. We must use established science to back up our reasoning. It’s not difficult, science tells us very clearly that noise pollution in marine environments can severely affect cetacean hearing, therefore also their navigation and feeding abilities. In some cases this can be fatal, directly or indirectly.
Noise pollution and its potential to kill
A report for Defra, (the UK department for the environment), examining the implications of noise from offshore wind farm surveys and construction, points out that “marine mammals are sensitive to these noise sources, which have the potential to kill, injure or disturb without appropriate mitigation.”
It’s as clear as day, offshore wind farm developments have the potential to kill marine mammals.
Yes, the decision makers have conversations about ‘mitigation’, but how has that played out so far? For example, take the media discussion around innovative design refinements like ‘painting one wind turbine blade black’ to deter birds and reduce collision fatalities - many of these ideas have never been widely tested, let alone implemented, and the industry still seems to use basically the same designs as they did years ago, only with ever taller turbines and bigger blades.
With plans for continued rapid expansion in the North Sea and the Irish Sea, and indeed all over the planet, practical ‘mitigation’ implementation will be impossibly futile and mean diddly-squat.
There will be too many turbines in direct conflict with wildlife.
The manic pace of offshore development is, I believe, a major factor in the huge upturn in cetacean mortality in recent years: an almost unbelievable 3000 dead whales, dolphins and porpoises in just 3 years around UK coasts, between 2018 and 2020. It is appalling and unacceptable.*
That is why those of us opposed to the reckless expansion of wind farms need to maintain calm credibility and speak the truth. We must use the science to prove a rational connection when animals and nature fall victim to industrial wind farm developments, while acknowledging that not every dead whale is a direct casualty.
A folly and a danger to nature
Wind energy on such a massive scale is a folly. It makes no sense, it is not viable or practical and it most certainly is not ‘green’.
It is destructive to the environment, damages ecosystems on land and at sea, and it is frankly one of the most ridiculous ideas that humankind has ever proposed. Imagine how far we came during the renaissance, and the industrial revolution, only to return in the 21st century to windmills as a method of producing electricity. Seriously? It’s nonsense, the wind industry knows it, the politicians know it - and the public would too if they just stopped to think about it. They have been duped, cajoled, panicked, into worshipping the wind industry as the saviour of the planet. It isn’t, it can’t be, it never will be. It is a harmful industry, destroying the very nature it purports to be saving.
It’s very hard not to be emotional when we witness nature dying before our eyes, and indeed we should be impassioned, an emotional response is part of being a sentient human being.
If we speak our truth calmly and clearly, then people will listen. And it might not be too late.
*We still await more recent data from Defra here in the UK, the cetacean stranding figures for 2021/22/23 are still out of public sight, behind closed doors. I’m trying to get them released.
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N.B. I have no agenda other than a genuine love for this amazing planet.
I am not paid by anyone to write this.
I’m not a ‘shill’ for the nuclear industry, nor the fishing industry, nor any government or political party.
I’m an independent citizen of this incredible planet, with a strong desire to leave a world as wonderful for future generations as it has been for me.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer or company.
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