Not the best method to generate electricity

The PEIS covers six commercial wind energy leases off the shores of New Jersey and New York, totaling over 488,000 acres. While its primary focus is to outline measures to “avoid, minimize, mitigate, and monitor” impacts, the fact that BOEM is even considering these measures implies a long-overdue acknowledgment of offshore wind’s potential to harm marine ecosystems and coastal communities. The language in the document hints that these developments are not entirely benign, despite being repeatedly framed as environmentally friendly solutions to the climate crisis.

Impacts Revealed

While BOEM insists that the PEIS is “programmatic” and not the final say on the matter, the document does provide insight into some of the broader consequences of wind energy development. The PEIS details potential adverse impacts across various categories:

Biological Impacts: Marine mammals, sea turtles, birds, and fish could suffer due to noise, habitat displacement, and changes in migration patterns. Even bats, which are not typically associated with offshore environments, could be affected.

Physical and Socioeconomic Impacts: The potential effects on water and air quality, commercial and recreational fishing, tourism, and scenic resources are all outlined. These sections make it clear that local economies and communities reliant on the ocean could experience significant disruptions.

Mitigation Measures are Not Enough: Although the report outlines numerous Avoidance, Minimization, Mitigation, and Monitoring (AMMM) measures, it also acknowledges that some impacts are “unavoidable”.

A Major Shift in Tone

The PEIS goes further by recognizing the “irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources.” This bureaucratic phrase translates to the permanent alteration of ecosystems and loss of natural resources due to wind farm construction. It is a striking concession from an agency typically focused on facilitating development.

For years, opponents of offshore wind have argued that the push for rapid renewable energy development has overlooked the consequences for marine life and coastal communities. BOEM’s new PEIS seems to suggest that these concerns may have been valid all along.

Why This Matters

The document comes amid growing criticism of how offshore wind projects are assessed and approved. Many argue that the rapid pace of development is being prioritized over thorough environmental review. With this PEIS, BOEM may be signaling a more cautious approach, perhaps influenced by increasing legal challenges, public backlash, and even emerging scientific research indicating that wind turbines are not as harmless as once believed.

Moreover, the timing of this document is significant. The Biden Administration aims to install 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 as part of a broader strategy to combat climate change. However, this goal seems increasingly at odds with the realities outlined in the PEIS—realities that indicate a more nuanced balance must be struck between renewable energy expansion and marine conservation.

The BOEM’s PEIS could be seen as a long-awaited admission that the rush for offshore wind might be causing harm. While the document falls short of halting development, it sets the stage for more rigorous scrutiny of future projects. Environmentalists, coastal communities, and fishermen who have long voiced concerns can now point to the PEIS as evidence that their voices are finally being heard.

BOEM’s acknowledgment of offshore wind’s potential downsides is not just a bureaucratic shift—it’s a chance to reconsider how we approach renewable energy development. Balancing climate goals with the protection of marine environments will be crucial, and this PEIS could be the first step in that direction.

The short-tailed albatross was listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as endangered throughout its range in 2000. At the turn of the 20th century, millions were harvested by feather hunters, which resulted in the near-extinction of the species. The species breeds primarily on remote islands in the western Pacific. Just two areas currently host most breeding pairs: Torishima Island, Japan, which is an active volcano, and the Senkaku Island Group, northwest of Taiwan. From 2008 to 2012 we worked with our Japanese partners at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology to establish a third breeding colony by translocating chicks from Torishima to a historic breeding location on the island of Mukojima. Recently, there has been limited, yet successful, breeding of short-tailed albatross on Midway Atoll in Hawaii. During the non-breeding season, short-tailed albatross range along the Pacific Rim, from southern Japan, to the west coast of Canada and the United States, primarily along continental shelf margin. Immature birds exhibit two patterns of post-breeding dispersal: some move rapidly north to the western Aleutian Islands, while others stay within the coastal waters of northern Japan and the Kuril Islands throughout the summer. In early September, the individuals that remained near northern Japan in the summer move into the western Aleutian Islands. Once in the Aleutians, most birds travel east toward the Gulf of Alaska, as noted in the 2008 recovery plan. Sightings of individual short-tailed albatross have been recorded along the west coast of North America, as far south as the Baja Peninsula, Mexico, also noted in the 2008 recovery plan.

Although the highest concentrations of short-tailed albatross are found in the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea regions, primarily along the outer shelf, of Alaska, T.J. Guy and others in 2013, noted that sub-adults appear to be distributed along the west coast of the United States. Juveniles and younger sub-adult birds, up to 2 years old, use a wider geographic range than adults. A.J. O’Connor and others documented in 2013 that they can be found in the Sea of Okhotsk, over a broad region of the Bering Sea and the west coast of North America. Sub-adult birds travel greater daily distances than adults, as documented by R.M. Suryan and others in 2007. Post-fledging juvenile birds range widely throughout the North Pacific Rim, and some individuals spend time in the oceanic waters between Hawaii and Alaska, as documented by T. Deguchi and others in 2014.

Short-tailed albatross forage diurnally and possibly nocturnally, either alone or in groups and predominantly hunt for prey by surface-seizing. The short-tailed albatross feeds on squid, crustaceans and various fishes. Chicks are fed a mixture of stomach oil and partially digested, regurgitated food by adults. The short-tailed albatross visits and follows commercial fishing vessels in Alaska. Although commercial longlining bait is not historically a part of their normal diet, it now constitutes a notable portion of the calorie intake for these birds. In addition, albatross chicks and adults eat trash and plastics found in the Pacific Ocean. Albatross chicks often choke and die from eating the plastics.

When these birds follow fishing vessels, they are sometimes hooked or entangled in longline fishing gear and drowned. We have been working with the commercial fishing industry, Washington Sea Grant and National Marine Fisheries Service to minimize take of this endangered seabird. Through this collaborative conservation effort, a type of seabird avoidance technology, called streamer lines, was developed to reduce threat to albatrosses of becoming bycatch by fishing vessels. Streamer lines create a visual barrier that keeps seabirds away from the baited hooks. In Alaska, streamer lines deployed on fishing vessels have led to a major reduction in the bycatch of albatrosses. Fishing vessels that have used streamer lines to ward off seabirds say there is also a financial benefit: the streamer lines keep seabirds from swiping their bait - saving them money in the long run.

Habitat destruction from volcanic eruption also continues to pose a significant threat to short-tailed albatross at the primary breeding colony on Torishima Island. The main colony site, Tsubamezaki, is on a sparsely vegetated, steep slope of loose volcanic soil that is subject to severe erosion, particularly during monsoon rains. In February 2010, the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology documented that a landslide at Tsubamezaki buried up to 10 chicks. Future eruptions or landslides could result in a significant loss to the primary nesting area, and the population as a whole. The threat is not predictable in time or magnitude. Eruptions could be catastrophic or minor, and could occur at any time of year. Climate changes may also affect vegetation and other characteristics of the short-tailed albatross breeding colony sites. Fortunately, the nesting habitats on Torishima Island, the Ogasawara Islands and the Senkaku Islands are high enough above sea level, above 70 feet (21.34 meters, to avoid inundation by projected sea level rise. Models for the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands indicate that the nesting habitat that is used by short-tailed albatross on low-lying Midway and Kure Atolls may be at risk due to sea level rise and increased storm frequency and intensity, as documented by Storlazzi and others in 2013.

Other threats to short-tailed albatross include environmental contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls and pesticides, as well as toxic metals, like mercury and lead. These come through atmospheric and oceanic transport. This species is also negatively impacted by petroleum. Oil spills can occur in many parts of the marine range of the short-tailed albatross. Consumption of plastics may also be a factor affecting their survival. Albatross often consume plastics at sea, presumably mistaking them for food items. The 2008 recovery plan notes that the ingestion of plastic pieces can result in internal injury or mortality to the birds. Furthermore, large volumes of ingested plastic can result in a reduction of gut volume available for food and water absorption, which leads to malnutrition and dehydration.

According to the 2020 5-year Review, the population of short-tailed albatross continued to grow with a current estimate of 7,365 individuals and a population growth rate of 8.9%, which is really something to celebrate.

Phoebastria albatrusCommon NameShort-tailed AlbatrossFWS CategoryBirdsKingdomAnimalia

GenusPhoebastriaSpeciesPhoebastria albatrus