finally tonight there's yet another example that endangered whales and offshore wind can coexist if development is done cautiously and correctly experts at two federal agencies are looking at ways to protect North Atlantic right whales which pass through New Jersey Waters in the same areas being eyed by the offshore wind industry a senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan reports they'll only have one chance to get it right it's count season for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales with moms and babies swimming along the east coast between Virginia and New Jersey that puts them smack in the zone dotted by planned and operating offshore wind projects and crisscrossed by ships it's a fraught intersection but one oceana's Gib Brogan thinks is manageable with a new federal strategy we believe that we can recover North Atlantic right whales and support responsibly developed offshore wind but it puts a burden on the federal government to make sure that that balance happens Marine Mammal Advocates like Brogan welcomed a final joint Federal strategy to save the whales and develop offshore wind where the two might Collide it stresses teamwork research strict monitoring and mitigation that includes avoiding leasing in areas where major impacts to North Atlantic right whales may occur establishing noise limits during construction and providing guidance to developers on conducting robust sound field verification for certain activities to ensure that expected impacts from offshore wind are not being exceeded well that's good as far as it goes experts warn the one place the strategy document falls short is in specifics and requirements for the projects going forward this leaves a fair amount of interpretation for future actions and so it's still going to be really important um to track how bom and no are are actually implementing regulations because this is just a strategy it is not a regulation and that's important you opponents claim offshore wind projects kill whales but necropsies reveal most die from big ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sites studies showing climate change and warming ocean waters have driven whales closer to shore following their food sources into busy shipping lanes they started showing up in new areas and protections were not in place in those new areas and we saw just um really a staggering number of deaths of right whales it's why Federal Regulators want to enact more restraints on ships that break speed limits in areas where whales congregate congressman Frank palon push Noah and the Coast Guard to ramp up speed enforcement he's still awaiting a reply mean while he's encouraged by this new strategy they basically acknowledge that you can do all of this that you can save endangered species at the same time that you reduce uh climate change um and and build renewable resources that uh you know can can power residences and businesses without burning fossil fuels meanwhile Jersey moving fast to meet clean energy standards the Board of Public Utilities just awarded two new offshore wind projects to be located at least 40 Mi off the coastline and it's got more projects to award to qualifying biders they all have to comply with the endangered species and Marine Mammal protection acts so those are really the teeth and those are really the things with which the developers will continue to comply uh and this document is an opportunity for you know additional layer of collaboration from the agencies the new strategy takes effect immediately I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News NJ Spotlight News