He points out how whale deaths have been surging higher at an astounding rate off the US east coast. Before 2016, an average of eight humpback whales per year were found dead between Virginia and Maine. Beginning in 2016 when the offshore turbine industry surged their boat traffic, surveying, and sonar mapping, an average of 25 whales were found dead annually. And last year, in 2023, there were a record number 83 whales found dead – that’s more than a ten-fold increase above the norm for that region.

During 2023 Shellenberger published the video documentary titled: Thrown to the Wind which described how the sonar surveys have damaged the whales hearing. Such damage impairs their navigation systems, leading to their beaching and deaths.

Research by the UK’s University of St Andrews has shown how damage to whales inner ears causes bleeding & disorientation, leading to colliding with ships and beaching deaths. Also the history of US Navy ships has recorded incidents, like 16 whales found stranded on beaches in the Bahamas, after ships using the high-intensity sonar had passed by.

As 2024 begins, Shellenberger has now produced: Thrown to the Wind Part 2, a new video presenting data on the extreme volume of sounds produced when pile driving the wind turbine structures into the sea bed.  Click Here  

Readers can recall the size of those steel pilings needed to support wind turbines hundreds of feet tall. Thus, its easy to understand the force and the noise of driving such huge steel pilings.

Some comments from witnesses:

• < “That’s loud to hear -- And I’ve got my ear muffs on”
•  < “Sounds like thunder coming in,”
•  < “It's insane.”
• < “It’s equivalent to the blast from a 155-millimeter Howitzer. “

Shellenberger also points out that if the pending wind projects go forward, they will make the North Atlantic Right whale extinct. This species, the N. A. Right whale is already critically endangered, with fewer than 400 individuals left. Officials are ignoring that it is illegal to harm or kill endangered species, and turning deaf ears to this peril. What an environmental scandal.

In prior message we’ve noted the frequency of failures of the equipment.      Click Here  So many of the fiberglass blades splitting, falling off, fires in the turbines, crumpling and crashing down of the steel support piles. And the stormy Atlantic inflicts both harsh weather conditions are well as huge cost of repairs. Even the land based wind turbines often produce power less than half of the time, as the wind doesn’t always blow. Maintenance and down time are likely to be frequent in the offshore conditions.  Expensive replacement of components can be expected. Effective life can be as little as 8 to 10 years. Such factors can shatter the initial estimate of costs, and become skyrocketing liabilities.

The experience of the Prince Edward Island wind farm in Canada is just one example of costly, heavy maintenance requirements of wind turbines.  Click Here    Wise planning would require reliable duplicate power plants to meet the electrical load requirements, most likely fossil fueled.