Abstract
The Whale Communications Specialist Committee was formed in May 2023 to develop communications materials to aid in the dissemination of current, accurate, and readily understandable information around whale mortality events1 and the level of potential risk to whales from offshore wind energy development activities. The Specialist Committee includes representatives from environmental nonprofit organizations, state agencies, and offshore wind energy developers, and receives scientific support from the Biodiversity Research Institute and facilitation support from the Consensus Building Institute. External reviewers of Committee products encompass a number of scientific experts including federal and state agency representatives, academics, and other environmental stakeholders.
The main outcome of the Committee to date is this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document, which groups topics into overarching themes and aims to provide two to three levels of information in response to each FAQ: 1) Brief bulleted summary; 2) Broad Answer: brief answer to key question (when necessary); and 3) Detailed Answer: Extended answer with associated scientific citations to provide readers with a better understanding of the facts and information sources. In addition to scientific citations, FAQ responses in many cases have a “for more information” section that refers the reader to other materials aimed at a general audience, including web pages, videos, and popular media. In many cases, the FAQ responses include discussion of other marine mammals besides large whales, and/or other anthropogenic activities besides offshore wind energy development, to provide detail and context.
The FAQ is intended primarily as a resource for stakeholders who are in direct communication with the general public, and who regularly receive questions from the public on these topics. The intent of this document is to provide scientifically sound, accurate answers, in varying levels of detail, to address common questions. End users should feel free to use or adapt the information in the FAQ as they see fit.