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Southeastern Massachusetts saw a record number of marine mammal strandings in 2024, including 11 large whales and hundreds of dolphins. Local authorities say they have received reports of at least two more large whale strandings — a humpback whale and a sperm whale — in the area this January.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare, the partner organization authorized by NOAA Fisheries to handle stranded marine mammals in the region, said it responded to 600 strandings in total last year. That’s more than double its annual average.
While the whale strandings are driving speculation about the impact of offshore wind development on these species, NOAA Fisheries officials, IFAW scientists, and many other fisheries researchers say there are no known links between offshore wind activities and whale deaths.
They say rebounds of certain whale populations and “changing habitat use patterns” are more likely tied to elevated levels of strandings. They have found evidence of ship strikes, fishing gear entanglement, and disease on stranded dolphins and whales.
Still, these researchers concede that the cause of these deaths is unclear, and more study is needed.
“What we do know is that coastal marine mammal dynamics have been very different this year,” IFAW veterinarian Sarah Sharp wrote in an email on marine mammal strandings to WCAI.
“There are many different factors at play right now in our near-shore marine ecosystems and it may take a little time to tease it all out.”
Humpback whale stranding
On Jan. 1, an IFAW team responded to a dead 33-foot male humpback whale in Westport — the first reported local stranding of the year.
The team was able to gather some skin and blubber samples that day, but the whale’s body remained in a good amount of water, even at low tide. So the crew marked its location with a satellite buoy, and conducted an additional necropsy and sampling on Friday, Jan. 3.
The final necropsy is not yet available, according to an IFAW spokesperson.
NOAA Fisheries has been tracking elevated mortality levels for humpback whales — which have been stranding on East Coast beaches — since 2016.
Researchers do not know exactly why this trend is occurring, but they refer to it as an “unusual mortality event.”
Federal officials say they have received reports of more than 240 dead humpbacks from 2016 to now, with more than 50 of those deaths reported in Massachusetts.
NOAA Fisheries and its partner organizations like IFAW conducted partial or full necropsies on roughly half of these whales. Of the whales examined, about 40% had evidence of vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements.
Humpback whales are a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Sperm whale stranding
On Jan. 26, IFAW crews responded to reports of a dead female sperm whale on Cuttyhunk Island. The animal was roughly 32 feet long, and weighed 11 tons.
The responders were only able to perform a limited external exam, due to the location of the stranding and the conditions on the beach. The responders were required to be off the island by around 5 p.m. that day.
The IFAW team reported that there were no obvious external wounds present. They anchored and satellite-tagged the whale carcass. Plans for a full necropsy are pending, according to an IFAW spokesperson.
Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales, and have one of the widest global distributions of any marine mammal species, NOAA Fisheries researchers said.
Strandings of sperm whales are rare. Still, they have occurred all around the world. Sperm whales have stranded in Massachusetts before. One stranded in Duxbury in 2023.
The reasons are still unknown. Some researchers say they believe that topography, ocean noise, marine debris, and oil or manmade contaminant spills could play roles.
Sperm whales also strand due to vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements, federal researchers say. Those interactions could be intensifying due to changing ocean temperatures and shifting prey distributions.
Sperm whales are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Email climate and environmental reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@newbedfordlight.org.
So we don’t know what is causing the abnormal amount of deaths since 2016 but we are positive it has nothing to do with sonar scanning and power driving from offshore wind . It just so happens that block island started in 2015 . Can we just stop offshore wind construction for 6 month to see if the deaths decrease ?
So Believe it has to with wind construction, years ago there were No problems with the ocean creatures? Maybe something to Think about and what people are doing to their environment and our too
How much will that cost?
Save sea life, our oceans, bays, waterways, and shut down Offshore Wind. Putting turbines in the ocean is a huge environmental disaster, the impacts from installation (blasting, drilling, trenching) destroy the ocean floor. Once the turbines are installed they change the underwater landscape, soundscape, and water temperature affecting the behavior, communication, and the habitats of all sea life for the future.
Adam, are you unaware of the level of construction happening for Revolution, Sunrise and Vineyard Wind. Do you know what Geophysical and geotechnical survey’s are? Are you aware of the proximity of the MA whale deaths to offshore wind survey and construction work? I can’t tell if you are deliberately not sharing fact or if you just don’t know them. Just because the construction is nearby, doesn’t mean it’s the cause, but it also doesn’t mean it is not. This 5+ year coincidence sure has you confused. Maybe you should read up on the the various projects documents and timeframes for work from the IHA permits. I mean, you are deliberately avoiding the elephant in the room. You also declined to mention the funding that IFAW receives from wind companies. Try harder please!
Microplastics!
If offshore wind kills whales, which seems to be the argument of a few other commenters, why isn’t there a plethora of evidence from 30 YEARS of offshore wind development in Europe? Are there no whales in the North Sea?
Also I hope the “keep it wild” crew is advocating for closing all the fishing grounds, restoring ocean monuments, banning offshore drilling and prohibiting plastics.
How many coincidences does it take until it’s mathematically impossible to ignor?
Answer, none because in the Federal permitting process there is a word “take” which means;
A “take” is defined as activities that “harass, hunt, capture, or kill, or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal.”
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/incidental-take-authorization-vineyard-wind-llc-marine-site-characterization-surveys
And scientists are still baffled!!
You’re being selective. The “take” NOAA authorized was Level B harassment, which is defined as “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.”
There you go posting actual facts. The paid folks from the fossil fuel industries won’t like that
“While the whale strandings are driving speculation about the impact of offshore wind development on these species, NOAA Fisheries officials, IFAW scientists, and many other fisheries researchers say there are no known links between offshore wind activities and whale deaths.”
Trump’s executive order requiring the EPA to study the effects and impacts on wildlife and animals in all Federally leased areas of wind turbine development seems like a good idea, since marine mammals are dying and scientists don’t know why. For the record, I am a lifelong liberal Democrat who is not connected to the fossil fuel industry.