About

North Atlantic Right Whales

Dominion Energy is responsibly building Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) to be fully protective of the environment, and we are taking extensive precautions to safeguard the North Atlantic right whale.

Protecting What Matters

North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species that have been federally protected since 1972. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimate there are fewer than 350 remaining as of October 2020. Right whales are typically found in the waters off Virginia during migration periods in late fall and early spring.

Our Approach

In addition to engaging the North Atlantic right whale researchers and advocates, including consortiums like Duke University’s Project WOW and the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative (RWCS), we are using a number of protective actions:

Permitting and Training

Consulted and obtained appropriate authorizations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for project activities.
Require environmental training for all vessel crew members.
Adhere to vessel speed restrictions and implement vessel strike avoidance measures.

Construction

Limit pile driving activities to May through October to avoid right whale migratory periods.
Implement soft start procedures to begin at a lower noise level during pile driving.
Use double big bubble curtains, which successfully reduced sound waves during the pilot foundation installation, to further reduce construction sound levels.
Monitor for marine animals using Protected Species Observers (PSOs) and Passive Acoustic Monitors (PAM). PSOs are responsible for detecting and avoiding marine mammals and will stop operations if species are detected within the shutdown zones.
Restrict pile driving to daylight hours to minimize the likelihood of impacts to marine mammals, unless piling activities have begun and stopping poses a risk to human safety or installation feasibility.

Documentation

Report any sightings of North Atlantic right whales to the NMFS North Atlantic Right Whale Sighting Advisory System and U.S. Coast Guard.
Report any large whale sighting, in support of the U.S. Navy’s Marine Species Monitoring Program, to track and develop a better understanding of the marine mammals in the area.

Protective Species Observers (PSOs) are on duty to continuously watch for marine mammals and turtles and stop operations if species are within exclusion zones. We will also be using technology that listens and looks for right whales.

Feedback from these efforts and other stakeholders has been incorporated into proposed mitigation measures for the CVOW project and informed our application to NOAA associated with permitting related to the NARW and other marine mammals.