Do offshore wind farms harm whales? Experts weigh in as Trump labels them 'dangerous'

Brendan Rascius, The Charlotte Observer on Jan 16, 2025

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In recent months, President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said offshore wind turbines are harming, and perhaps killing, whales.

“They’re dangerous,” he said during a Jan. 7 news conference, citing a string of whale strandings in Massachusetts. “The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously.”

Specifically, noises created by turbines are to blame, Trump said during an Oct. 26 interview with Joe Rogan, this time referencing a spate of whale deaths in New Jersey.

Since then, he has called for a moratorium on new turbines — which he labeled an “environmental disaster” — during his second term.

But what do whale experts say?

No evidence linking turbines to whale deaths

According to several experts who spoke with McClatchy News, Trump’s comments are broadly inaccurate.

“There is no evidence linking whale deaths to offshore wind farms or ‘windmills,’” said Lindy Weilgart, an ocean noise expert and policy consultant at OceanCare, a nonprofit dedicated to marine conservation. “Europe has way more offshore wind farms and has encountered nothing of the sort.”

In fact, as of August 2023, the U.S. only had two operational offshore wind farms — located off Rhode Island and Virginia, according to the Department of Energy. By contrast, the U.K. alone, as of 2022, had 44 offshore farms.

“This is a complex issue, but in my opinion the answer is a hard no. There is no evidence linking whale deaths to wind turbine activity,” said Sean Todd, the director of Allied Whale, a marine mammals research program at College of the Atlantic.

This view is also shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is responsible for managing and protecting marine species.

Attempts to attribute whale deaths to offshore wind turbines — rather than being inspired by evidence — are likely motivated by politics, experts said.

“Suddenly, the right wing is concerned with marine life now that they’re trying to discourage renewables and promote oil and gas,” Weilgart said. “It’s very transparent.”

Addressing specific concerns

Concerns about the effect of wind turbine noise on whales are overblown, Todd said, namely because they do not make much noise at all.

When rotating, a turbine’s massive blades produce a “constant whir,” which, — unlike a sharp, percussive sound — is unlikely to penetrate far into the water, he said.

“There’s no reason to believe that the noise levels that these turbines would produce in the water, which we think is very little, would have any impact on those whales,” Todd said.

With that being said, noises associated with wind turbine construction are likely more intense, said Hal Whitehead, a professor of biology at Dalhousie University.

“My understanding is that whales can be negatively affected (but not killed) by the noise of the pile driving used to install some kinds of wind farm, but operational wind farms have little or no effect,” Whitehead said.

Todd emphasized these noises only occur during the construction phase and that there are laws in place to help minimize potential effects.

For example, “there must be marine mammal observers on board, and if a whale is sighted anywhere near the construction site … they are required to take mitigating action,” he said.

Another potential concern is the inevitable increase in vessel traffic as a result of the need to service the turbines, Todd said.

“But we have set in place some fairly strict monitoring systems … that will be able to mitigate any of those concerns,” he said.

What’s causing whale deaths then?

In recent years, large numbers of whales have washed ashore up and down the East Coast, including in New Jersey and Massachusetts. If wind turbines aren’t to blame for their deaths, what other factors could be at play?

“The necropsies of the whale deaths mostly show entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes on whales as causes,” Weilgart said.

Disease, starvation, parasites and climate change could also be factors, according to NOAA.

However, it’s often extremely difficult to isolate a single cause, said Todd, who has taken part in necropsies in the past.

“It’s a long process, it takes three to four months,” he said. “If you’re lucky you might get to prove cause of death, but often we don’t get to do that.”

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