Has the government authorized OSW developers to harass and kill whales and other marine mammals?
At a Glance:
Offshore wind projects must comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits any intentional harassment, hunting, capturing, or killing of marine mammals, including whales and dolphins. Offshore wind projects may request and be granted an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA) that defines conditions so that any accidental harassment during surveys and especially during construction would be minimal. Incidental harassment incidents are also called a take but that does not mean a mammal has been captured or killed. IHAs are required for offshore fossil fuel projects as well.
A Deeper Dive:
An IHA includes very stringent rules and many obligations especially during offshore wind construction. For example, all offshore wind vessels are required to have a trained protected species observer on board at all times and that some operations must cease if certain marine mammals such as the North Atlantic right whale are observed.
There are two levels of harassment that may be authorized in an IHA. Level B harassment refers to acts that have the potential to disturb (but not injure) a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild by disrupting behavioral patterns, including, but not limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering. Level A harassment means any act of pursuit, torment, or annoyance that has the potential to injure a marine mammal or marine mammal stock in the wild. A granted IHA identifies limits of harassment incidents of level A and B by marine mammal species. The more endangered the species the more stringent the limits.
Vineyard Wind 1 and South Fork have been granted an IHA. For the endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW), there is no authorization for causing injury or level A. For Vineyard Wind 1 there is only authorization for ten (10) incidents where a NARW might be disturbed but not injured. For less endangered species there may be level A and B authorizations. Because transportation, fishing, and recreational vessels transit the habitat of marine mammals harassment will occur on occasion. Fishing practices also have regulations pertaining to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The obligations for offshore wind development are the most stringent. For example, transportation and fishing vessels are not required to have an observer onboard and observing at all times.
Understanding Complexities:
Listen to a marine mammal expert talk about this issue:
https://thepublicsradio.org/episode/theres-no-evidence-offshore-wind-kills-whales
To learn more about Incidental Harassment Authorization, read this from the NOAA fisheries website:
To understand the obligations for the Vineyard Wind 1 construction, read parts of the IHA document:
https://media.fisheries.noaa.gov/2021-05/VWconstr_FinalIHA_OPR1.pdf?null=
In Table 1 on page 22 notice that Vineyard Wind is permitted zero (0) level A harassments and ten (10) level B harassments of NARW from May 1, 2023 through April 30, 2024. Table 1 also references higher IHA takes of other marine mammals which are less threatened. The entire IHA identifies the extensive obligations of the developer to minimize risks to marine mammals.
The suggestion that the Vineyard Wind 1 developers are permitted to kill North Atlantic Right Whales during the construction is misinformation.