potholer54 | 'Thrown to the wind' -- are wind farms really killing whales? @potholer54 | Uploaded February 2024 | Updated October 2024, 47 minutes ago.
CORRECTIONS:
Not a correction in this case, just a response to a few people who thought there was a correlation between whale deaths and wind farm activity off the New England coast -- a negative correlation. This is where whale deaths go down, but wind farm activity goes up.
But no such relationship exists. There is no correlation at all, either positive or negative. That's why I said 'There's no correlation.' I did not mean there's no positive correlation or I would have said so. You scan see the complete lack of correlation very clearly in the graphs shown.
And since I am still getting messages from people who think there's a negative correlation, I'll give you the dates. Whale deaths went up from 2015 to 2017 when there was NO wind farm activity at all. That is not a correlation, either positive or negative. There is a negative correlation between 2017 and 2019. Then from 2019 to 2022 there is a decline in whale deaths when we are told there is "lots and lots" of wind activity, but no trend. No trend means no correlation, either positive or negative.
So five years of NO correlation and two years of a negative correlation means that for the time period looked at -- 2015 to 2022 -- there was no correlation.
TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL -- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CHARITY:
I do not ask for contributions. Instead, please support the work of Health in Harmony, which trades forest protections for health care. See my video here: youtube.com/watch?v=j9-GRugP9pU for an explanation of their work.
Donations can be made here: healthinharmony.org/donate-today
(Please note there appears to be a typo in the URL at the end of the video. Use the URL above to donate.)
SOURCES:
(Papers are not listed here if the titles and authors are clearly seen in the video.)
'Thrown to the Wind' video:
youtube.com/watch?v=km78wMHt9d8&t=66s
Example of ‘public’
public.substack.com/p/fbi-is-purging-christians-conservatives
Sky news interview with Shellenberger:
youtube.com/watch?v=0tKZ3DkaDGw
The Hill interview with Shellenberger, aired Aug. 14, 2023;
youtube.com/watch?v=VgF6Wmu6ZbM
“Anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient noise in the ocean”
John A. Hildebrand 2009
Seven wind farms off New England:
newhampshirebulletin.com/2022/05/02/new-englanders-support-more-offshore-wind-power-just-dont-send-it-to-new-york-commentary
NOAA whale mortality figures:
fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2016-2024-humpback-whale-unusual-mortality-event-along-atlantic-coast
“ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF NOISE AND VIBRATION FROM OFFSHORE WIND FARMS ON MARINE WILDLIFE” – Uni of Liverpool
osti.gov/etdeweb/servlets/purl/20262251
Whales may be moving with warmer water:
"Decadal-scale phenology and seasonal climate drivers of migratory baleen whales in a rapidly warming marine ecosystem" - Pendleton et al., 2022
"Impact of anthropogenic sounds (pile driving, drilling and vessels) on the development of model species involved in marine biofouling" -- Cervello 2023
NOAA FAQ saying no evidence of a link:
https://www.fisheri es.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-life-distress/frequent-questions-off shore-wind-and-whales?fbclid=IwAR2TXmI7xEfF89Cws7dmZJWYxkgnqTfl-nd6Fj3ql0D15bGharPlYOa_Z5c
Paper documenting whales avoiding loud noises, cited by BOEM:
“An overview of research efforts to understand the effects of underwater sound on cetaceans" -- Shane Guan and Tiffini Brookens
A few things to note:
Shellenberger's video says that people with links to the wind industry are responsible for all whale necropsies (animal autopsies) along the East coast. I checked this, and it's not correct. The three people in question, Allison Deperte, Sammy Choo and Paul Tonna, do indeed have links to the wind industry and are among more than a dozen members of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSC) Board. But they have no involvement in necropsies, that is handled by qualified marine biologists and vets. Neither does the AMCS handle all the necropsies, other organisations are also involved.)
I didn’t play the sound of a pile driver because that wasn’t mentioned in Shellenberger’s video, but I did show the figure for how loud it is. Pile driving is easily the noisiest part of wind development. But it can be mitigated by starting the pile driving very softly, so that whales in the area are alerted, and slowly move away if necessary.
For a discussion about the costs of wind energy, reliability, energy storage and renewable energy in general, please see my video 'A conservative solution to climate change' and comment there.
CORRECTIONS:
Not a correction in this case, just a response to a few people who thought there was a correlation between whale deaths and wind farm activity off the New England coast -- a negative correlation. This is where whale deaths go down, but wind farm activity goes up.
But no such relationship exists. There is no correlation at all, either positive or negative. That's why I said 'There's no correlation.' I did not mean there's no positive correlation or I would have said so. You scan see the complete lack of correlation very clearly in the graphs shown.
And since I am still getting messages from people who think there's a negative correlation, I'll give you the dates. Whale deaths went up from 2015 to 2017 when there was NO wind farm activity at all. That is not a correlation, either positive or negative. There is a negative correlation between 2017 and 2019. Then from 2019 to 2022 there is a decline in whale deaths when we are told there is "lots and lots" of wind activity, but no trend. No trend means no correlation, either positive or negative.
So five years of NO correlation and two years of a negative correlation means that for the time period looked at -- 2015 to 2022 -- there was no correlation.
TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL -- PLEASE SUPPORT THIS CHARITY:
I do not ask for contributions. Instead, please support the work of Health in Harmony, which trades forest protections for health care. See my video here: youtube.com/watch?v=j9-GRugP9pU for an explanation of their work.
Donations can be made here: healthinharmony.org/donate-today
(Please note there appears to be a typo in the URL at the end of the video. Use the URL above to donate.)
SOURCES:
(Papers are not listed here if the titles and authors are clearly seen in the video.)
'Thrown to the Wind' video:
youtube.com/watch?v=km78wMHt9d8&t=66s
Example of ‘public’
public.substack.com/p/fbi-is-purging-christians-conservatives
Sky news interview with Shellenberger:
youtube.com/watch?v=0tKZ3DkaDGw
The Hill interview with Shellenberger, aired Aug. 14, 2023;
youtube.com/watch?v=VgF6Wmu6ZbM
“Anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient noise in the ocean”
John A. Hildebrand 2009
Seven wind farms off New England:
newhampshirebulletin.com/2022/05/02/new-englanders-support-more-offshore-wind-power-just-dont-send-it-to-new-york-commentary
NOAA whale mortality figures:
fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/2016-2024-humpback-whale-unusual-mortality-event-along-atlantic-coast
“ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF NOISE AND VIBRATION FROM OFFSHORE WIND FARMS ON MARINE WILDLIFE” – Uni of Liverpool
osti.gov/etdeweb/servlets/purl/20262251
Whales may be moving with warmer water:
"Decadal-scale phenology and seasonal climate drivers of migratory baleen whales in a rapidly warming marine ecosystem" - Pendleton et al., 2022
"Impact of anthropogenic sounds (pile driving, drilling and vessels) on the development of model species involved in marine biofouling" -- Cervello 2023
NOAA FAQ saying no evidence of a link:
https://www.fisheri es.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/marine-life-distress/frequent-questions-off shore-wind-and-whales?fbclid=IwAR2TXmI7xEfF89Cws7dmZJWYxkgnqTfl-nd6Fj3ql0D15bGharPlYOa_Z5c
Paper documenting whales avoiding loud noises, cited by BOEM:
“An overview of research efforts to understand the effects of underwater sound on cetaceans" -- Shane Guan and Tiffini Brookens
A few things to note:
Shellenberger's video says that people with links to the wind industry are responsible for all whale necropsies (animal autopsies) along the East coast. I checked this, and it's not correct. The three people in question, Allison Deperte, Sammy Choo and Paul Tonna, do indeed have links to the wind industry and are among more than a dozen members of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSC) Board. But they have no involvement in necropsies, that is handled by qualified marine biologists and vets. Neither does the AMCS handle all the necropsies, other organisations are also involved.)
I didn’t play the sound of a pile driver because that wasn’t mentioned in Shellenberger’s video, but I did show the figure for how loud it is. Pile driving is easily the noisiest part of wind development. But it can be mitigated by starting the pile driving very softly, so that whales in the area are alerted, and slowly move away if necessary.
For a discussion about the costs of wind energy, reliability, energy storage and renewable energy in general, please see my video 'A conservative solution to climate change' and comment there.
