Abstract
The development of offshore alternative energy sources requires comprehensive assessments of biological resources within suitable energy areas to identify and mitigate any potential effects of that development on wildlife and fisheries. This report details the second annual assessment of the spatial and temporal patterns of marine fauna occurrence (with a particular emphasis on endangered large whales and sea turtles) in the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area (MA-WEA) south of Martha’s Vineyard, and the first annual assessment in the adjacent Rhode Island Massachusetts Wind Energy Area (RIMA WEA) east of Block Island. The second year of survey effort was analyzed separately, and where appropriate preliminary comparisons between survey years was conducted.
In August of 2011, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) established an agreement for conducting field surveys of marine life in the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area (MA-WEA). The first year of surveys (Year 1) spanned a twelve month period, from October 2011 to September 2012. In December of 2012 MassCEC and EEA entered a Cooperative Agreement with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that extended the survey period for an additional year and expanded the area surveyed to include the adjacent Rhode Island Massachusetts Wind Energy Area (RIMA WEA) offshore of Rhode Island. Subsequently, MassCEC awarded the Northeast Large Pelagics Survey Collaborative (NLPSC), comprised of the New England Aquarium (NEAq), the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS), and Cornell University’s Bioacoustics Research Program (Cornell) a one-year extension to the existing contract, which started in January of 2013. The addition of the RIMA WEA offshore of Rhode Island to the existing MA WEA (together referred to as the “Study Area”) resulted in a 70 nautical mile (nm) extension of survey track lines. Seventeen months of survey work were conducted under the extended agreement between October 2012 and February 2014 (Year 2). This additional survey effort strengthened the baseline data available for the Study Area, a first step in informing development planning and assessing potential effects on the behavior and ecology of resident or migratory species of marine mammals and sea turtles. When viewed over two years, aerial and acoustic data from the project to date demonstrate inter-annual variability and increase confidence in some distribution and abundance patterns of marine mammals observed in the first year of surveys.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act (1969), Federal agencies are required to integrate environmental assessments into offshore development and construction plans. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (1972) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA, 1973), many species that occur in the Study Area have special legal protections. Understanding the distribution, abundance and seasonality of endangered whales and sea turtles is critical to developing operational plans for different stages of wind farm development, and informing mitigation planning to minimize potential impacts. In particular, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Task Force, created to facilitate communication amongst federal, state, local and tribal governments regarding renewable energy activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), identified the need to address potential impacts of acoustic disturbance on marine mammals, as well as the importance of continued study of marine species and habitats in the Study Area.
The offshore waters of southern New England are inhabited periodically by six species of large whale and five species of turtle, including finback, sei, North Atlantic right, humpback, minke, and rarely blue whales. Of these, the blue, fin, sei, humpback, and right whales are listed as endangered under the ESA (1973). In particular, occasional concentrations of occurrence or “hotspots” of right whale activity have been observed south of Cape Cod and near the Study Area in the spring, although right whale movement patterns in southern New England waters during the winter and spring months remain poorly understood. Sea turtles regularly found in southern New England waters include the loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp’s ridley, and green turtle, with occasional reports of hawksbill turtles from stranding records. All of these species are classified as endangered under the U.S. ESA.
Data are available upon request via email to offshorewind@masscec.com.