Abstract
Icebreaker Windpower, Inc. has proposed to construct Icebreaker Wind, a 6-turbine offshore wind energy demonstration project in Lake Erie. This final report details the results from this preconstruction survey effort to meet the first monitoring objective, which was to identify the waterfowl and waterbird species, numbers, distribution, and use of survey area. The survey effort followed the agency approved Aerial Waterfowl and Waterbird Study Plan, included within the Icebreaker Windpower Monitoring Plan. The aerial survey study area extended more than five kilometers (km; three miles [mi]) in all directions from the originally proposed seven turbine sites, with the final survey area of 14,950 hectares (ha; 36,942 US acres [ac]) of US waters.