ACK 4 Whales On NOAA's Proposed Vessel Speed Restriction

To the editor: As an avid supporter of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, I find NOAA’s proposed 10-knot restriction for boats traveling in Nantucket Sound to be disingenuous at best, and dishonest at worst. It is incredibly disturbing that once again, NOAA is ignoring the science and proceeding in yet a new direction without considering the most important facts. Fact # 1: There haven’t been whales sighted in Nantucket Sound for decades.

Hmmm…so what gives?

Why NOAA’s sudden concern for the North Atlantic right whale, a majestic and endangered species that provides natural carbon reduction? Clearly, they haven’t cared a hoot for the NARW, or any other whales for that matter, as fact #2: NOAA, along with BOEM, are on track to continue permitting an eventual 1,400 square-mile offshore wind power plant that will overwhelm an area that is well documented to be where the whales actually do live…off Nantucket’s south shores.

Shockingly, NOAA has permitted the offshore wind companies to excessively blast sonar; pile drive 1,000-foot steel poles into the ground; plow drive thousands of miles of ocean floor; burn endless amounts of diesel fuel; introduce SF6 gas, PFAS, toxic magnet minerals, electro-magnetic fields, tens of thousands of gallons of lubricating oil, blinking lights and disruptive sounds/vibrations all into the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales’ habitat in the ocean. That’s bad enough. But then, NOAA turning around and suggesting that the recent increase in whale strandings (that correlate perfectly with all of this offshore wind work) can be remedied by restricting the speed limit of ferries and boats traveling in Nantucket Sound is not only utter nonsense, it’s an intentional falsehood.

ACK for Whales, a grassroots organization, is trying to protect whales and we do the work with only volunteers and with dollars donated only by Nantucket residents, summer residents and visitors. NOAA’s attempt to pit the good people who love Nantucket against the NARW and those of us who are trying to protect this incredible species, and place, from the environmental and economic disasters of offshore wind by wielding a paralyzing speed restriction in the Sound is beyond irresponsible, it’s destructive.

NOAA, BOEM and the offshore wind industry are pushing these projects through at all costs, and they are surely not following the science. How can they be serious about their speed limits when at this point their credibility appears to be in jeopardy? The proposed 10-knot speed limit seems arbitrary and nothing more than an offensive endeavor to feign concern for the NARW while drawing attention away from the offshore wind disaster-in-the-making, and that unless stopped, will destroy a critically endangered and valuable species, and likely haunt Nantucket forever.

Amy DiSibio
ACK for Whales, board-member