Measurement of effects of pile driving in the Borssele wind farm zone on the seals in the Dutch Delta area version II

Brasseur, S.; Aarts, G.; Schop, J. (2022). Measurement of effects of pile driving in the Borssele wind farm zone on the seals in the Dutch Delta area version II (Report No. C059/22). Report by Wageningen University and Research Centre. Report for Offshore Wind Ecological Programme (Wozep). https://doi.org/10.18174/578120

@techreport{Brasseur-2022-,
author = {Brasseur, S and Aarts, G and Schop, J},
title = {Measurement of effects of pile driving in the Borssele wind farm zone on the seals in the Dutch Delta area version II},
institution = {Wageningen University and Research Centre},
year = {2022},
month = {oct},
number = {C059/22},
address = {Den Helder, the Netherlands},
doi = {10.18174/578120},
url = {https://www.noordzeeloket.nl/publish/pages/219388/effects-of-pile-driving-in-the-borssele-wind-farm-on-seals-in-the-dutch-delta-ii.pdf},
keywords = {Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Avoidance, Displacement, Noise, Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds},
}

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TY - RPRT
TI - Measurement of effects of pile driving in the Borssele wind farm zone on the seals in the Dutch Delta area version II
AU - Brasseur, S
AU - Aarts, G
AU - Schop, J
AB - On the long term it is expected that mobile marine animals will be influenced by the intended large-scale changes planned in the Dutch marine waters, being primarily the construction and operation of windfarms. Some scenarios forecast that ultimately approximately 25% of the Dutch part of the North Sea might be covered by wind farms. These constructions, supported by significant rise in ship traffic to build and service the windfarms but also support supplemented activities, encompass significant changes in the marine habitat. Moreover similar intentions have been declared by the other North Sea countries. The ecological effects of these changes are still unknown, and the WOZEP (Wind Op Zee Ecologisch Programma) aims to provide insight in these potential effects. In this study 10 harbour seals and 10 grey seals were tracked to study the effects of pile driving in the Borssele wind parks (1-4) near the southern Dutch border on the seals' behaviour. Additionally, long term monthly counts of seals on land (data provided by Delta Milieu Projecten; DMP) and records of stranded animals (collected by volunteers and seal rescue centres, avaliable on waarneming.nl) were inspected to detect changes in trends. In addition to the study directly commissioned by the WOZEP programme of RWS (Borssele 1: Brasseur et a.I in press), where effects were studied based on distance, we also studied the effects based on modelled sound exposure levels. In this rapport the complete results are presented. For this second study we were subcontracted by TNO, in a project commissioned by the WOZEP programme.
CY - Den Helder, the Netherlands
DA - 2022/10//
PY - 2022
SP - 65
PB - Wageningen University and Research Centre
SN - C059/22
UR - https://www.noordzeeloket.nl/publish/pages/219388/effects-of-pile-driving-in-the-borssele-wind-farm-on-seals-in-the-dutch-delta-ii.pdf
DO - 10.18174/578120
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Avoidance
KW - Displacement
KW - Noise
KW - Marine Mammals
KW - Pinnipeds
ER -

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Abstract

On the long term it is expected that mobile marine animals will be influenced by the intended large-scale changes planned in the Dutch marine waters, being primarily the construction and operation of windfarms. Some scenarios forecast that ultimately approximately 25% of the Dutch part of the North Sea might be covered by wind farms. These constructions, supported by significant rise in ship traffic to build and service the windfarms but also support supplemented activities, encompass significant changes in the marine habitat. Moreover similar intentions have been declared by the other North Sea countries. The ecological effects of these changes are still unknown, and the WOZEP (Wind Op Zee Ecologisch Programma) aims to provide insight in these potential effects.

In this study 10 harbour seals and 10 grey seals were tracked to study the effects of pile driving in the Borssele wind parks (1-4) near the southern Dutch border on the seals' behaviour. Additionally, long term monthly counts of seals on land (data provided by Delta Milieu Projecten; DMP) and records of stranded animals (collected by volunteers and seal rescue centres, avaliable on waarneming.nl) were inspected to detect changes in trends. In addition to the study directly commissioned by the WOZEP programme of RWS (Borssele 1: Brasseur et a.I in press), where effects were studied based on distance, we also studied the effects based on modelled sound exposure levels. In this rapport the complete results are presented. For this second study we were subcontracted by TNO, in a project commissioned by the WOZEP programme.