Researchers examine whether offshore wind survey noise contributed to New Jersey whale deaths in 2022–2023
Edited, representative image.In the winter of 2022–2023, nearly a dozen whales died off the New Jersey coast, close to the sites of several proposed offshore wind farms. The deaths quickly raised an uncomfortable question: did survey activity tied to wind energy development play a role?
At the 187th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in November 2024, Michael Stocker of Ocean Conservation Research presented findings examining exactly that.
Whale deaths near New Jersey wind farm sites draw scientific scrutiny
Nearly a dozen whale deaths in a single winter, clustered near proposed offshore wind farm sites, drew immediate attention from both the public and the scientific community. The geographic proximity was hard to dismiss, and questions about whether wind energy survey work had contributed began circulating fast.
A single survey ship likely has limited effect on marine mammals in isolation—eleven operating simultaneously produce a very different collective acoustic footprint.
Stocker’s presentation on November 21, 2024, brought those questions into formal scientific territory. His work examined the circumstances surrounding the deaths and whether regional survey activity may have been a contributing factor.
Federal agency finds no direct link to wind energy development
The Marine Mammal Commission, a federal oversight body, reviewed the available evidence and reached a clear conclusion: no direct link exists between the whale deaths and wind energy development.
Necropsies performed on recovered animals showed that many died from vessel strikes—a finding that points away from noise or construction activity as an immediate cause. The Commission also noted that the number of deaths during that period was not above average.
The rise in ship strikes over the past decade, it explained, reflects two converging trends: more whales in the water and more vessels sharing that space. “In the case of a lot of whales, population recoveries since the cessation of commercial whaling are coincident with increasing shipping traffic and increasing fishing efforts,” Stocker said. “This is resulting in increased interactions between whales and the industrialization of the ocean.”
Researcher raises concern over cumulative stress from survey ships
The Commission’s findings address direct causation. Stocker’s concern operates at a different level—one that is harder to measure. His question is not whether a single survey vessel killed a whale, but whether accumulated stress from multiple simultaneous operations degraded whale awareness enough to make fatal ship strikes more likely.
“Were the ship strikes just a coincidence?” Stocker asked. “Or were they a product of compromised whale vigilance due to aggregated stress factors?”
That distinction carries real weight. From December 2022 to March 2023, eleven separate surveys ran concurrently in the region, each using underwater acoustic instruments to map the seafloor. A single survey ship likely has limited effect on marine mammals in isolation—eleven operating simultaneously produce a very different collective acoustic footprint. Stocker’s argument is that this cumulative impact has not been properly evaluated, since regulatory frameworks tend to assess projects individually, which can obscure the combined effect when surveys overlap in the same area during the same window.
Offshore wind expansion along the East Coast increases marine traffic
The broader context is a rapidly expanding offshore wind industry along the U.S. East Coast. Three wind farms are already operational, with several more planned or under construction, driven by state and federal decarbonization targets and the prospect of large-scale carbon-free power generation. That expansion brings a sustained increase in survey and construction activity in coastal waters.
Before turbines go in, developers must map the seafloor using acoustic instruments — tools that emit sounds cetaceans are likely sensitive to. The timing of this industrial growth also coincides with a wider ecological shift: whale populations have been recovering since the end of commercial whaling, placing more animals in ocean spaces already crowded with expanding shipping and fishing fleets. That dynamic raises the baseline rate of whale-vessel interaction before offshore wind surveys are even factored in.
Next steps: Identifying approaches to reduce future whale deaths
Stocker’s presentation was not framed as an indictment of offshore wind development. Its stated purpose was to open a conversation among acoustics researchers and industry stakeholders about how to reduce whale deaths going forward.
The central focus is cumulative impact. Rather than evaluating each survey operation in isolation, Stocker is pressing for assessment frameworks that account for what happens when multiple surveys run simultaneously within the same geographic area—a kind of overlapping acoustic exposure he argues warrants its own evaluation standard. As of the meeting, no specific regulatory changes or new industry protocols had been announced. The work remains at the stage of formally posing the question and building the case for a more comprehensive approach.
The cause must be human-related
The whale deaths off New Jersey in the winter of 2022–2023 remain a genuinely complex case. Federal authorities found no direct evidence connecting the deaths to wind energy development, and necropsies confirm that vessel strikes were the immediate cause of death for many of the animals.
What remains open is the upstream question Stocker raises. This is whether the density of simultaneous survey operations may have placed enough stress on whales to reduce their ability to avoid oncoming ships. That question does not yet have a definitive answer. What it now has, following the Acoustical Society meeting, is a clearer place in the scientific conversation.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
