More and more whales are dying and washing up on the East Coast and researchers are baffled over the exact cause of the deaths, with some critics blaming shipping strikes and fishing gear while others blame offshore wind farms.

(Video Credit: Eyewitness News ABC7NY)

So far in 2023, at least 14 humpbacks and minke whales have been found dead on beaches in New York and New Jersey. That’s a drastic uptick from 9 last year.

The most recent deaths were two humpback whales whose corpses were spotted on May 31, in Raritan Bay off Keansburg, New Jersey, and Wainscott on Long Island. Both are suspected to have died by blunt force trauma according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

A 28-foot female humpback died near New Jersey. Her left pectoral fin had been severed. The injuries are consistent with getting hit by ships according to officials. The whale’s carcass was buried at Gateway National Recreation Area in Sandy Hook.

A 47-foot-long male humpback died near Long Island. He had massive bruising to blubber and muscles on his head. The whale was buried on the beach in Hampton Bays, Southampton.

There have been 11 other humpbacks that have been found on beaches in other states this year. The sitings range from Maine to Florida. Two North Atlantic right whales have died off the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina, according to NOAA data.

Many critics point to ships killing whales. Ninety-eight right whales have died in the Atlantic since 2017. Twelve of them were caused by ship strikes. But according to the New York Post, there aren’t more ships. Ships are just getting bigger.

Bigger ships endanger whales more because they represent bigger targets. The Port Authority and NOAA have tried to reduce the risk to whales by slowing ships down.

Data confirms #whaledeaths surge in close proximity to #offshorewind survey vessel activity. Period. Chart updated thru 6/5/2023. #FactsMatter #ClimateScam @saveLBIorg @SaveNARW @ack4whales @njcoast_protect @NewJerseyDEP @noaaocean @shellenberger @JunkScience @JesseBWatters… pic.twitter.com/TKw9rKZMGw

— Mike Dean (@mikerdean22) June 6, 2023

Part of the cause of more deaths may simply be that there are more whales.

The Atlantic menhaden, which is called the “most important fish in the sea,” has increased in numbers in waters from Nova Scotia to Florida. The fish are filter-feeders up to 15 inches long which are food for whales, according to NOAA fisheries.

The more menhaden there are, the more whales will be drawn to coastal waters from deeper ocean territories.

The growing food source along historical migration routes has made the area a suitable place for whales to feast on a “buffet,” Robert DiGiovanni, founder and chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, asserts.

“We’re seeing a lot more food in the area, we’re seeing a lot more animals in the area,” DiGiovanni commented.

Fishing gear can also prove deadly to whales. Ninety-eight deaths have occurred since 2017 of North Atlantic right whales due to entanglements. Nine of them were directly tied to fishing gear entanglement. NOAA claims that over 85% of right whales have been ensnared by fishing gear at least once.

Only one North Atlantic right whale has died from entanglement so far this year according to data.

Many are blaming wind farms for whale deaths. Greenpeace’s former president, Patrick Moore, believes that sound pulses used to survey the ocean floor for the 900-ft. wind turbines are likely linked to the ongoing rise in whale deaths.

Not mentioned by NYPost @joshuarhett:

The Biden regime has permitted offshore wind developers to kill twice as many endangered whales as are known to exist, as well as thousands of dolphins, porpoises and seals. https://t.co/m4fow2xpbxhttps://t.co/Kl72344riD via @nypost

— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) June 13, 2023

Moore told the New York Post that the long-term impact of high-intensity acoustic noise on whales and other marine mammals is unknown. He contends that the pulses could draw whales to shallow waters where there is an increased risk they could be hit by ships or get caught in fishing gear.

There are two offshore wind farms that currently operate in the Atlantic near the tri-state area. Block Island Wind Farm off Rhode Island, which has been online since late 2016, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project off Virginia Beach.

In the crazed quest for renewable energy production, massive 900-foot turbines have been approved off the coasts of both New York and New Jersey.

Cable-laying began in March for New York’s South Fork Wind Farm about 35 miles east of Montauk. Large areas located off the Jersey Shore have been zoned for wind farms as well.

New Jersey Republicans tried in May to get a 60-day moratorium on offshore wind farm development to investigate any possible connection to whale deaths. Gov. Phil Murphy rejected their claim.

Say it louder for the people in the front, the number of whale and dolphin deaths significantly increased once sonar mapping started. Why are you so against a pause in that mapping to see if that’s the cause at this point?

— Navin R Johnson (@DreadedIgnominy) June 5, 2023

Sean Todd, who is a professor at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, and director of Allied Whale, a marine mammal laboratory, blasted “alarmist” attempts to prematurely link whale deaths to wind farm development.

“When an animal dies on our coastline, the process of determining cause of death is an extremely lengthy one – and that can be very frustrating to the public,” Todd told the New York Post. “And obviously we have to be prepared to possibly declare that we don’t know how the animal died.”

NOAA has also rejected any link to the deaths from wind farms.

“I’ve heard all of these theories, I’ve not seen a comprehensive review of how these may or may not be the cause,” Cindy Zipf, who is executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a New Jersey-based advocacy group, said in an interview with the New York Post. “If birds starting falling from the sky in wind farm areas, we would determine what that was and take steps to minimize that.”

The deaths of the whales are a mystery at this point. What isn’t in doubt, however, are the wind farms the left is pushing through.

The comments for the New York Post’s reporting on the whale deaths are off the charts.

One commenter stated, “The Vineyard Wind Project just applied for a permit to kill as many as 20 Humpback Whales during their construction project in Mass. They well know they are killing whales but the ‘Save the Whales’ Crowd is silent just as they are when windmills kill 475,000 birds a year including 75,000 large raptors.”

Another chimed in, “Please quote scientists on the windfarms who are not dependent on federal grants.”

“Electricity from wind farms travel underwater by way of wires. Causing areas of extremely high electromagnetic waves. Waves that cause problems for whales. But climate change people are so upset with producing electricity, that they are willing to kill off the whale population. But they will tell you that the whales died from global climate change,” another remarked.

“They will do everything they can to dismiss the idea that wind farms in the Atlantic are part, or even a major part, of the dead whales. They will focus elsewhere, other possibilities, because the political agenda of climate change must remain unscathed. When is the last time these wind farm advocates dared address the problem of hundreds of eagles and other birds killed by wind turbines? These are the dark things they don’t want to report or talk about,” one person asserted.

And one other commenter was simply blunt, “So basically the left is killing whales. just like they do everything else. religion, family units, morals, pipelines, jobs, self respect, motivation, innocent children, birds, trust in government agencies, etc.”

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