Summer 2023: The Summer of Beached Whales?

Summer is officially here. Many Americans are spending more time outside to enjoy the warm weather. Many Americans will travel to the beach, maybe stay at their shore house, attend their state fair, and eat lots of good food from everyone’s favorite shore eatery. However, one thing may stop beachgoers: dead whale carcasses and other marine life washing up along the shore. This has been an ongoing problem for a while with very few questions answered.

This has mainly been a problem along the New Jersey and New York shorelines. It all started dating back to December 2022 when a whale washed up along the Jersey Shore. After that, there has been a massive increase in whale deaths along the shoreline. Many residents have become concerned about sea life washing on the shore. This has resulted in beaches being closed to observe and do tests on the whales. The last time the topic of dead marine life washing up on the Jersey Shore and Long Island coast was on June 1st when the New York Post reported two more dead humpback whales were spotted. While NJ and NY have experienced dead marine life washing up on their coastlines in the past, however, it has not been an everyday occurrence until now. Many people have been asking the same questions: Why are there so many whale deaths along the shore? However, very few questions have been answered.

In the Garden State, this has turned into a political battle. Republican Politicians have made it clear they want to investigate the whale deaths. Many on the Right in NJ at the state and federal level have been sounding the alarm that this is all due to the offshore wind farms being built miles off the NJ coast. State Senator Ed Durr, who garnered national attention after he defeated incumbent Democrat Senate President Steve Sweeney, along with State Senator Michael Testa have sounded the alarm that this is all due in fact to the wind farms. South Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew has also been extremely vocal on this issue. Many Republicans have been calling for a 60-day halt on the construction of offshore wind farms where in the case the offshore wind farms are causing whale deaths, then the project needs to be halted immediately. New Jersey then put out a statement stating there was no evidence that the offshore wind farms are killing marine life despite the fact there was no data to support the state’s claim.

I agree with Senator Durr, Senator Testa, and Congressman Van Drew on this issue. It is very important to look into whale deaths and ensure that offshore wind farms are not the main cause of these whale deaths. Not investigating this matter would be a huge disservice to all the concerned residents who simply do not want marine life washing up on shore. Summer is meant to be enjoyed, not feared.