The urgency to move toward sustainable energy sources has never been more urgent than it is at this time.
Consumer use of fossil fuels has created a warming climate that is threatening the survival of many species and the environment as a whole. As we navigate toward sustainable energy solutions, we need to exercise caution in the choices we support, and apprise ourselves of the most current information regarding these choices.
As defenders of marine life and ocean habitat, the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute views offshore wind farms as a detrimental choice amongst fossil fuel alternatives because the adverse impacts on wildlife are so substantive, and empirical data on the risks to the marine environment is lacking and/or incomplete.
The Delaware Bay and coastline provide essential habitat for migrating whales, shorebirds, and butterflies as well as providing foraging grounds for sea turtles, birthing and feeding grounds for bottlenose and other dolphin species, and winter habitat for seals.
Large whales such as humpback, fin and the severely endangered North Atlantic right whale have used their ancient migratory pathways along the Delaware Coast for eons of time, and utilize the rich feeding grounds of the Delaware Bay and surrounding waters to feed and to teach their young how to forage on their own.
Bottlenose dolphins reside in Delaware waters for nine months out of the year, from February through October, making up the largest northerly population in existence. Sea turtles navigate thousands of miles annually using the earth’s electromagnetic fields as their guide. These will guide them to foraging grounds in the Delaware Bay, and to nesting beaches farther south.
Every organism in the marine ecosystem is interdependent, relying on long-established feeding and breeding grounds for their survival and for the survival of their species. Fragmenting any portion of this ecosystem with disruptive forces takes its toll on every species, including humans.
The installation of offshore wind farms, accompanied by high-voltage cables under the ocean floor, creates an industrial fragmentation of the marine ecosystem, the effects of which will include but are not limited to, increased underwater noise pollution, toxic emissions, thermal radiation, interference with the earth’s naturally occurring electromagnetic fields, obstacles to migration routes, displacement of species, loss of prey, and masking that can cause separation of mother from offspring when they can no longer hear one another against the backdrop of other invasive sounds.
Current studies show that offshore wind farms are considered an apex predator, while large whales are considered the cornerstone species for the health of the planet, making protection of their habitat vital to every living creature. Whales contribute more toward mitigating climate change than any other organism or system by way of being the primary source of fertilization for microscopic phytoplankton, upon which every other organism depends.
Phytoplankton in turn captures carbon and produces half of the world’s oxygen. This interdependent system illustrates the essential role of all organisms toward the earth’s health and balance, and necessitates a big-picture approach to any proposal that would create industrial intrusion into the ocean.
We urge decision makers not to rush toward an alternative energy system that has not been adequately researched for long-term impacts, and in the short term is proven to be detrimental to many species of wildlife, ecosystems, and neighboring communities. There is no need to accept the lesser of the evils when we have access to existing, far less detrimental forms of sustainable energy and systems, such as solar, geothermal, and net-zero housing.
These far-reaching decisions should not be based upon the financial incentives provided by utility companies but rather on the best interests of marine ecosystem conservation and the welfare of coastal communities.
Suzanne Thurman
executive director, Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute
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