Offshore Wind: Safeguarding Marine Mammals During Development through Operations

To protect marine life, all stages of offshore wind development are subject to rigorous regulation and monitoring requirements, using measures such as mandatory vessel speed restrictions, vessel strike avoidance measures, constant visual and acoustic monitoring, seasonal restrictions, sound reduction technology and other mitigation.

Learn how offshore wind energy is committed to protecting marine life throughout project development and operations through this fact sheet.

Key Takeaways:

• Offshore wind is one of the most regulated maritime industries in the U.S. when it comes to marine mammals and other wildlife – multiple federal and state agencies review every proposed activity and only approve projects subject to a suite of strict protection and mitigation measures.
• When issuing “incidental take” authorizations, government agencies do not authorize offshore wind developers to cause serious injury or mortality to marine mammals – intentionally or incidentally.
• There is no scientific evidence linking whale strandings to offshore wind activities. All government agencies responsible for protecting marine mammals have determined that recent strandings are not the result of offshore wind development.