Senator Ed Durr joined a growing chorus of state and federal lawmakers in calling for a pause in wind farm development activities as more dead whales continue to wash ashore.

A deceased 30-foot humpback whale on the beach in Atlantic City recently. (NJ.com)

“Some people are adamantly denying that the sudden surge in dead whales is linked to wind farm survey work, but the truth is they don’t really know,” said Durr (R-3). “We don’t know if sonar or drilling used to conduct surveys of the ocean floor is disrupting the ability of whales to navigate safely, possibly leading to more deadly groundings and vessel strikes. Unless we want to risk more dead whales on our beaches, we should pause the survey work to investigate.”

State senators Vince Polistina and Michael Testa have called for a pause, as have Congressman Jeff Van Drew and Congressman Chris Smith.