When Paul Kanitra, mayor of the tiny borough of Point Pleasant Beach, in the US state of New Jersey, witnessed the most recent stranding of a humpback whale, he vowed on Facebook that if it washed ashore on the town’s beaches, “we will personally test it and get to the bottom of this”.

Nine whales have washed ashore on New Jersey and New York beaches, generating widespread speculation that ongoing geophysical surveys in nearby offshore wind projects, including the Shell-EDF joint venture (JV) Atlantic Shores and Orsted's Ocean Wind 1, could be involved.

Kanitra declined to elaborate to Recharge, but his comments reveal the suspicion cast upon marine mammal experts charged with detailed examinations of the corpses.

For generations accustomed to television police dramas in which autopsies are highly revelatory, the necropsies on recently beached whales have been disappointingly inconclusive.

Necropsies are typically performed by one of two marine mammal stranding centres, either the New York-based Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSEAS) or the Marine Mammal Centre (MMC) of New Jersey.

AMSEAS led the necropsy examinations for three of the nine recent humpback strandings and found all “presented with findings of blunt force trauma, consistent with vessel interactions”, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries department (NOAA-Fisheries) spokesperson Lauren Gaches said, with the remainder inconclusive.

These findings have not satisfied offshore wind opponents. They concede that vessel collisions might be responsible but contend that damage to the hearing of these animals caused by geophysical surveys is the root cause.

“Are these whales disoriented because they’ve become deaf or temporarily deaf because of geotechnical testing out in the water?” Amy Disibio, representative for the Massachusetts-based Nantucket Residents Against Turbines (ACKRATS) that is currently engaged in a lawsuit targeting the US’ first offshore wind farm, Vineyard Wind 1.

“If we’re not going to be there, investigating and doing the proper necropsies right away, looking in their ears and in their eardrum, then we’re not really doing a very good job.”

NOAA-Fisheries noted the challenges associated with performing necropsies on multi-tonne animals in difficult conditions, adding that “certain microscopic parts of the ear bones critical to diagnosing trauma decompose very quickly (within hours)”.

This explanation is not accepted by sector opponents, who question the rescue centres’ scientific objectivity.

The experts at the aquariums and some of these environmental organisations “are not independent, they’re compromised”, asserted Disibio.

Six of the 15 AMSEAS board members are tied to the offshore wind industry, including Norwegian state energy company Equinor, which is developing 3.3GW of capacity in the Empire Wind 1 & 2 and Beacon Wind projects for New York with partner oil supermajor BP.

“Our support for these organisations and their broad mission is independent from the scientific work they carry out,” Equinor spokesperson Lauren Shane told Recharge.

Necropsy reports created by the rescue centres are not available for public perusal due to the ongoing UME investigation, fuelling conspiracies that the truth is being withheld and sparking threats against the facilities and their personnel.

Josh Kaplowitz, head of offshore wind for renewable energy advocacy group American Clean Power Association said: “Groups opposed to clean energy projects spread baseless misinformation about the role of offshore wind development that has been debunked by scientists and career experts.”

National Wildlife Federation adds: “Many of the anti-offshore wind groups, including groups that claim to support the protection of whales, are being bankrolled or co-opted by the oil and gas industry.”

Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-wing think tank funded in part by oil & gas companies is supporting another lawsuit against Vineyard Wind 1, while the avowedly anti-offshore wind organisation the American Coalition for Ocean Protection (ACOP) has been linked to several groups opposing the industry, including Protect our Coast -- NJ and ACKRATS.

ACOP was formed by conservative Caesar Rodney Foundation through David Stevenson, director of its energy and environment centre.

Disibio disputes that contention, stating that any ties to ACOP were brief and based on ACKRATS’ inexperience in grassroots organising.

The whale ultimately washed ashore at Manasquan, where AMSEAS handled the necropsy before it was buried in a local landfill.

Backlash over mounting whale deaths leaves US offshore wind in deep waters