Wednesday 15 September 2021

How can offshore wind protect the oceans?

Where should offshore wind projects be developed to protect marine life?

A new £800,000 research project from the University of Aberdeen and University of Highlands and Islands has been set up to determine just that.

Funded by Ørsted, the project will dive into fish migration patterns and monitor these areas of oceans and seas to ensure wildlife is not being damaged in the quest to build more renewables.

The research will also look to see how climate change is impacting the habitats of fish, seabirds and marine mammals and make sure to avoid areas that could disrupt the local food chain.

Professor Beth Scott, who is co-leading the project, stated: “This is a very exciting project that brings a proactive approach to determining the reasons why some locations in our seas may be safer to use for wind farm developments than others.

“The project will dive straight into the ecological mechanisms that make fish available as prey to seabirds and mammals such that we can better predict where mobile animals will choose to forage now and into a future driven by climate change.”