Offshore staff
GLASGOW — A project to monitor the behavior and activity of marine mammals using the waters around ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia THREE offshore wind farm is underway.
Technology will be used to detect and record underwater sounds, including the noises and vocalizations marine mammals make for communication, feeding and navigation. The project aims to improve scientific understanding of how marine mammals behave and how they react to offshore activity like wind farm development.
The mammal sounds are captured using a series of hydrophones deployed at 12 locations both within the East Anglia THREE wind farm area and up to 25 km beyond its boundary to create acoustic monitoring stations.
Hydrophones are suspended underwater at each monitoring station, attached to a buoy mooring line.
They will be in place for about four years, covering the pre-construction period (to provide a baseline), the two-year construction program for East Anglia THREE, and the first year of wind farm operations.
The marine mammal project is being delivered in partnership with Seiche, a UK specialist in underwater noise and marine mammal monitoring, supported by the Scottish Association for Marine Science.
Environmental consultants GoBe supported the development of the Marine Mammal Monitoring Plan, which was approved before monitoring began.
07.12.2023
