Ocean Science Consulting is pleased to announce publication of their latest peer-reviewed paper ‘Spatial Impact of Wind Farm Construction on Harbor Porpoise Detectability’, published in The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Authors are: Nienke C. F. van Geel, Steven Benjamins, Brett Marmo, Jacob Nabe-Nielsen, Anja Wittich, Denise Risch, Darren Jameson, Victoria L. G. Todd, Ian B. Todd, Sophie E. Cox, and Ben Wilson.
As concern for the environment increases as does the need to develop renewable energy sources. Consequently, offshore wind farm construction is growing exponentially and there is greater need to understand and mitigate the effects of construction on marine life. Marine mammals, like harbour porpoise, rely on sound to navigate the world around them, using echolocation to hunt for prey and communicate. Noise from pile driving therefore has the potential to negatively impact them, either through damage to hearing or through disturbance, with the loud noises keeping them from frequenting important habitats or disrupting their feeding behaviour.
OSC’s new paper investigates spatial impacts on harbour porpoise from construction of an offshore wind farm in Southeast England. The study used echolocation click detectors (C-PODs) to monitor the presence of harbour porpoise before, during, and after construction of the windfarm, finding that the likelihood of detecting porpoises during pling decreased out to a distance of 14 km.
Read the paper here: The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life.
