Fiery debates about the cause of whale deaths erupted along the mid-Atlantic coast in recent months after more than a half dozen humpback and sperm whales washed up on New York and New Jersey shores and near the Maryland-Virginia border.
Some environmental groups demanded investigations into offshore wind-farm work, prompting the federal government to say there was no evidence tying that industry to the deaths. Initial findings from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration instead suggested that at least some of the whales died following vessel strikes—at a
