Ørsted and SMRU Consulting will host a webinar to summarise the findings of the recently completed IDEAS project.
The project relates to the use of digital aerial survey (DAS) methods to estimate the density of cetaceans, particularly harbour porpoise, which are widely used to estimate baseline density for offshore wind farm impact assessments. The overall aim was to explore and address potential sources of bias and uncertainty in density estimation, focusing on level of survey coverage, detection probability and environmental influences. These topics were addressed through a series of work packages, using: simulations, real video DAS data, dive data from tagged harbour porpoise, and drone experiments with a 3D-printed porpoise decoy. Outputs include suggestions for improving DAS for cetaceans, along with an R package and web-based app for generating survey-specific estimates of harbour porpoise detection probability. The report and other outputs identify where findings are relevant only to video DAS data, or to both video and still image DAS. The final report is now available for download from the Marine Data Exchange.
This project, funded by Ørsted, was led by SMRU Consulting in collaboration with researchers from Aarhus University and the University of St Andrews (SMRU, CREEM).
The IDEAS project executes the Plan for Marine Mammal Monitoring required under condition 8 (2)(h) of the Hornsea Project Two Offshore Wind Farm deemed Marine Licences (dMLs).