Abstract
The objective for offshore wind energy in the Dutch part of the North Sea is 6,000 MW and for future wind farm developments search areas have been defined. The concessions for the future development of offshore wind farms to be issued will be accompanied by a set of regulations with regards to prevent possible adverse ecological effects. Although these regulations will depend on the specific location of each concession, proper formulation of such regulations requires structural knowledge of the occurrence of specific species through the year in the entire Dutch Continental Shelf area. For a proper estimation of the potential ecological impacts of building, exploiting and decommissioning of offshore wind farms, a vast amount of ecological information is required. Gathering ecological information at sea is expensive and takes time.