We Are All Whalers?

To the editor: Michael Moore gave a talk at the Nantucket Atheneum last week. He is a senior scientist at WHOI who has studied the North Atlantic right whale (NARW), their risks of extinction, and deaths from entanglements and vessel rammings for many years. He spoke for an hour without mentioning offshore wind.

When asked about increased vessel traffic associated with offshore wind development he acknowledged that could be a factor. When asked about why the South Atlantic right whale is doing better, he acknowledged that could be related to the greater population and industrialization along the North Atlantic coast. When he was asked about the noise of piledriving and sonar mapping, he said that there was no proof that was a cause for whale deaths because the decline in the NARW population started in 2017 before the offshore construction.

Mary Chalke pointed out that the sonar mapping of the seabed started in 2017, coincident with the decline in the NARW population. Not discussing offshore wind projects in an analysis of whale deaths is odd. WHOI has, like Nantucket, received money from offshore wind. For those interested in the effects of noise and sonar on whales, see the following two links, here and here. 

George Ellis
New Mill Street, Nantucket