Comment Submitted by Anonymous

You could monetize this by bringing lawsuits against offshore wind and collecting damages under the Endangered Species Act. Please pressure USFWS to do so. Vineyard Wind is causing mass mortality events off the Massachusetts coast in marine mammals, in violation of both the Endangered Species and Marine Mammal Protection Acts. Bottlenose dolphins have been found with burst eardrums (see attached). Currently, IFAW, the nonprofit that conducts marine mammal rescue in Massachusetts, does NOT check for burst eardrums which would confirm offshore wind culpability. Please issue a directive to IFAW to start including burst eardrums in every marine mammal autopsy ( Marine Mammal Rescue) so endangered species act lawsuits can be brought. Vineyard Wind is an offshore wind energy project located about 15 miles south off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind features 62 fixed-bottom wind turbines, with a combined nameplate capacity of 804MW. The turbines generate incredibly loud sounds and frequencies, which disturb marine mammal communications. The wind turbines also result in narrowed shipping lanes, causing more maritime traffic which marine mammals must compete with. Currently the Trump administration is trying to buy out offshore leases. But why doesn't the USFWS use the Endangered Species Act to pursue wrongdoers and receive financial penalty? $12,000 is the fine for each penalty, and there have been hundreds of dead endangered creatures that would trigger such a collection ( Section 11. Penalties and Enforcement | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ), ostensibly netting your agency hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here are the dozens of dead marine mammals that USFWS should investigate and prosecute over, using the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Burst eardrums would prove causation, and should be added to autopsies of these beautiful creatures. Vineyard Wind started construction in January 2024, and you can see the mortality acceleration since then: July 14 2026 Largest Standing of Dolphins off Massachusetts Coast in History https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/mass-stranding-of-bottlenose-dolphins-off-cape-cod-said-to-be-largest-in-massachusetts-history/ar-AA27Pwp8 January 2026 Endangered Right Whale Entangled right whale known for Cape Cod Canal closure dies Sept 17 2025 https://worldanimalnews.com/2025/09/17/rescuers-save-12-dolphins-after-mass-stranding-in-two-day-effort-in-massachusetts/ - 12 dolphins August 2025 https://whdh.com/7-investigates/7-investigates-largest-dolphin-stranding-in-us-history-on-cape-cod/ - 150 dolphins July 2024 https://apnews.com/article/dolphins-stranded-cape-cod-massachusetts-rescued-c1e9bf09337b9c1c79db8f4c41d881d7 - 102 dolphins July 2024 https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/13/us/cape-cod-dolphin-stranding-largest-us-history 140 dolphins June 2024 https://www.npr.org/2024/06/29/nx-s1-5023742/dolphins-mass-stranding-cape-cod-shallows-rescuers 10 dolphins June 2024 https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/28/us/dolphins-stranded-cape-cod-massachusetts/ 100 dolphins December 2024 Endangered whales found entangled in rope off Massachusetts | Sandusky Register 1 is likely to die 2 endangered whales The marine mammal staff at the USFWS, Angela Gustavson and Anita Harrington, seem very lazy and haven't acted on this at all.