Abstract
This study addresses the “Removal of Market Barriers” objective identified by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wind and Water Power Program in “A National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Energy Industry in the United States” (February 2011). The goal of the study is to provide regulators, developers, and the public with the necessary data to “help identify high-priority areas for protection, existing data gaps, and the best manner by which to efficiently incorporate natural resource considerations into the permitting and siting process.” To address this goal, we are studying bird, sea turtle, and marine mammal distributions, densities, and movements on the mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), to determine how these characteristics of animal populations vary with environmental factors and across space and time.
The objective of this study is to produce the data required to inform siting and permitting processes for offshore wind energy development in the mid-Atlantic. Data on bird, sea turtle, and marine mammal abundance and movements will be collected and analyzed in scientifically sound ways, using a variety of technologies and methods, and will be presented to stakeholders and regulators in easily accessible formats that are useful for planning and decision-making.