Abstract
In 2006 an offshore wind farm has been constructed in the North Sea, at ≈7 miles off the coast near Egmond aan Zee, the Netherlands. The first years of operation of this wind farm are accompanied by an intensive monitoring and evaluation programme on the possible environmental impact of the construction of the park. This programme includes research and/or monitoring projects related to (almost) all major categories of organisms relevant to the area involved.
One of the monitoring items concerns the fate of the benthic faunal community following the construction of the energy park. Questions underlying this monitoring programme focus on the immediate effects of the presence of the park on the actual benthic community and on the long-term effects on the benthic community within the zone of the windmills. In order to obtain insight in these questions a benthic sampling programme has been started in 2007 on possible short term (<1 year after construction) effects on the benthic fauna. In this interim report the progress of this study during 2007 is presented and a planning is given of the work that still has to be executed. The final report will be available in the 4th quarter of 2008.