TY - THES
TI - Will wind development adversely impact North Atlantic right whales through an increase in vessel traffic?
AU - Bishop, A
AB - The rapid expansion of offshore wind development along the United States east coast hasraised concern over its potential effects on marine mammal populations. Potential increases inregional vessel traffic associated with wind energy development are of particular importance inthis context because of the heightened vessel strike risk and additional noise exposure theypresent. Of particular concern, this could pose an increased threat to the critically endangeredNorth Atlantic right whale. There are only an estimated 356 right whales remaining in thepopulation. The species is at risk of extinction, largely because of mortality induced byentanglement and vessel strikes. To address this concern, we obtained monthly vessel densitydata before, during, and after the construction of three wind energy projects: the Block IslandWind Farm, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Pilot Project, and Vineyard Wind I. We analyzedthese data to determine whether vessel density increased during the development process.Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel data were synthesized and cleaned by the GlobalMarine Traffic Density Service. We conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of vessel density onmonthly rasters of vessel occupancy time. The data included layers with all vessels aggregatedtogether, and layers subset by vessel category. We then extrapolated potential outcomes of winddevelopment in these areas based on the changes we observed. Our analysis found that vesseldensity increased between pre-construction and post-construction by 2.52 – 4.98 monthly hourson average. Substantially larger increases in vessel density occurred once construction started,but they were immediately offset once construction concluded. Overall, the risks to right whalesimposed by offshore wind-related vessel density appear low, though continued monitoring in thefuture is critical to assess these impacts across longer operational periods and larger-scale windfarms.
DA - 2024/04//
PY - 2024
SP - 58
PB - Duke University
UR - https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/2daeaa6c-ab27-4c31-9f4c-69db4eec1469/content
LA - English
M3 - Master's Thesis
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Floating Offshore Wind
KW - Collision
KW - Noise
KW - Marine Mammals
KW - Cetaceans
ER -