June 26, 2023 — Conservation groups and offshore wind critics are calling for an investigation into the deaths of two humpback whales that washed up on the shores of Martha’s Vineyard last week.
On Monday, June 12, a decomposing humpback whale was found in the surf on the south-east tip of Martha’s Vineyard. Early the next morning, a second humpback whale carcass was discovered about 5 miles away on the island’s eastern shoreline.
Federal scientists say that the cause of the deaths remains unclear. In an email, a spokesperson for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (NOAA), which is leading logistics, said that it will not be performing an autopsy on either whale and that “any type of partner supported exam is being stood down.”
The first whale was stuck in the surf, making an autopsy difficult, a NOAA spokesperson said. The agency had plans to do a “limited internal exam,” but abandoned efforts last week as the carcass drifted north along the shoreline.
The decision has frustrated conservation groups curious about the unusual occurrence of two whale deaths discovered in two days. The carcasses were found about one week after construction began on the nation’s first utility-scale wind farm — which is being built in waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard — and has fueled speculation that the deaths may be connected to offshore wind development.