Dharmaraj, Nina2026-03-252026-03-252025-12Dharmaraj, N. (2025). Coexisting at Sea: Offshore Wind Governance and Right Whale Protection in a Changing Atlantic Canada. [graduate project]. Halifax, N.S: Dalhousie University.https://hdl.handle.net/10222/85910Atlantic Canada is advancing offshore wind as part of national decarbonisation and energy security goals, yet this development overlaps with the shifting distribution of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW). Climate-driven changes in prey have redirected NARW use towards the Canadian shelf and Gulf of St Lawrence habitats, increasing exposure to vessel traffic, entanglement risks, and construction-related noise and operational activities. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies, including multi-year passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) in U.S. wind energy areas and climate ecology evidence of right whale redistribution, this project examines the governance conflict that emerges when rapid renewable energy deployment meets species-at-risk conservation. It frames the problem as a “wicked problem”: a governance concept where objectives are multiple and competing (for example, climate mitigation, biodiversity protection, fisheries livelihoods, regional development), data is dynamic and evolving, and solutions may create new cross-jurisdictional trade-offs. The pros and cons are weighed: offshore wind’s climate and economic benefits versus ecological risks and enforcement challenges created by data gaps and multi-national inconsistencies. Using lessons from established global offshore wind-cetacean strategies, alongside Canada’s regional assessment processes, this project proposes a governance pathway that enables coexistence: adaptive, data-linked siting and operations, stakeholder co-design, and international coordination that is tuned into real-time right whale presence. The goal is pragmatic: protect a species on the brink of extinction without sacrificing renewable energy momentum.