Atlantic Offshore Wind Environmental Research Recommendations

Explore opportunities to offset curtailment shut-down costs including potential energy storage investments and ways to maximize energy generation during normal operations using wind farm control and wake steering.

Investigate which species can detect electromagnetic fields (EMF), what the sensing capabilities are, and how they respond to EMF.

Study the spawning behavior of subpopulations to understand the resilience of an overall population

Model the effects of OSW farms on tide, currents, waves, bed shear stress and mixing on SPM concentrations, including horizontal transport, SPM settling, remixing and resuspension at a range of spatial scales

Examine potential barrier effects on animal migrations and/or larval dispersal, as well as new habitat creation effects (e.g., reef effects), via changes in the foraging distributions of higher trophic level species including seabirds, sea turtles, and seals.

Determine the relationship between exposure and collision risk.

Explore whether the presence of OSW foundations affects species distribution, density, and biomass, taking into account influences of flows around turbine piles, changes in fishing patterns, and fixed versus floating foundation types.

Conduct cost-benefits analyses and feasibility studies of mitigation options for collisions and noise abatement and understand disturbance levels of different cable installation tools and how they can be used appropriately in different environments to mitigate disturbance where possible.

Assess the relative amounts of specific hard substrate habitat types (e.g., deep reef) provided by OSW facilities and the opportunities for substrate-dependent populations and life history stages

Develop guidance around coordination with turbine manufacturers and wind energy operators and key constraints (e.g., placement options, remote communication, power) for technology installation on turbine structures for monitoring bats at OSW farms.

Expand use and participation of public contributions to data collection including reporting of stranded/entangled species

Identify habitats and areas of high ecological importance and benthic productivity.

Identify baseline distribution and abundance of prey resources to inform our understanding of spatial patterns of higher trophic level species.

Identify key species or groups of species to focus research based on commercial and conservation value, relevance, representativeness, suitability for existing methodologies, and those lacking in knowledge/previous focus.

Examine industry implementation of bat curtailment strategies and potential barriers to adoption.

Develop better understanding of spawning behavior and locations near OSW area to establish a baseline

Explore biological variables/mechanisms such as the bio-physiological mechanisms triggering the observed behavioral responses, physiological variables potentially effected by sound-related stress, and intra-specific differences in responses.

Investigate methods to improve detection of marine mammals to better mitigate impacts of sound

Improve sampling coverage for monitoring at-sea bat activity and sampling of early stages of fish and squid.

Investigate detection of sound pressure, particle motion, and vibration, including bandwidth, thresholds, and sensitivity of detection, and incidence of permanent threshold shifts

Strengthen knowledge of the food web and its functioning and identify the main linkages through which indirect effects may occur.

Assess sensitivity of various parameters and sources of uncertainty in various models, including collision risk models, Population Viability Analyses, Individual Based Models, and potential covariance between parameters.

Incorporate climate/environmental change into predictive models including population models, forecasting, and decommissioning scenarios to improve predictions, assessments, and understanding of cause and effect mechanisms.

Incorporate the use of gradient design into physical and chemical monitoring to help account for the dynamic nature of marine systems and the difficulty in choosing a representative control site.

Incorporate long term change and large-scale effects of OSW on the environment into marine spatial planning research.

Develop seabird hotspot maps by integrating data from various sources (e.g., surveys, tracking) that can be used for various marine spatial planning purposes including OSW siting to integrate avian conservation into research, management, and planning.

Monitor levels of displacement from OSW facilities, including distance at which displacement occurs and degree to which it occurs (e.g., proportion of individuals displaced), and how these metrics change over time with potential habituation.

Examine how design and materials used for foundations and cable and scour protection affect growth, diversity, and ecosystem functions and services, with a focus on species of conservation priority. Determine the degree to which nature-based design can be used as an effective mitigation tool.

Assess whether EMF can cause mortality or serious injury to protected resources.

Better understand injurious responses to and mortality from OSW sound, including both construction and operations.

Explore potential for direct entanglement with the sub-sea structure of floating OSW farms (e.g., mooring lines) or for secondary entanglement where derelict fishing gear/marine litter may attach to the sub-sea structures and consequently entangle animals

Investigate the potential to model Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS) growth, which may be a better way to estimate how much noise an animal accumulates over time, than is currently done by modelling Sound Exposure Levels of multiple impulsive sounds (SELcum).

Investigate the tradeoffs of foundation removal and other decommissioning strategies in terms of impacts to biodiversity, fisheries, regional habitat availability, and other considerations. Use investigations on decommissioning in an adaptive management framework.

Explore whether the exclusion of bottom trawling in (part of) OSW farms and the locally increased levels of organic matter deposition may restore the seafloor's original carbon storage function, and if so to what degree

Make all data publicly available, including data collected for Environmental Impact Assessments and post-construction monitoring to aid in the assessment of broad-scale questions, ecosystem-level research, and potential cumulative impacts.

Fill knowledge gap in accurate, observed and repeated EMF measurements from subsea cables at different OSW energy projects

Assess energetic costs of behavioral responses to EMF including changes in movement and predator-prey interactions.

Determine how underwater noise affects marine mammal energetics.

Assess and try to predict whether invasive species will occur at some OSW farms

Monitor primary productivity and its relationship to physical and chemical parameters.

Quantify mortality of aerofauna at OSW facilities via empirical data collection and determine whether mortality rates are high enough to be a regulatory or conservation concern for any species.

Identify the technology readiness level and validation status of technologies for mitigation of wildlife, including those focused on reducing and attenuating turbine construction noise

Use existing body mass and survival data to better establish this relationship. Effects during the breeding season may manifest themselves in overwinter survival. This relationship has/ can be used in estimation of impacts.