Abstract
This report forms the Year 1 Annual Report for the ProcBe Project. The ProcBe Project is a three-year project, which commenced in November 2023 and will complete in December 2026. The project was funded by The Crown Estate through the Offshore Wind Evidence and Change programme, which aims to expand offshore wind sustainably whilst supporting the marine environment.
Offshore wind farms (OWFs) have the potential to impact seabirds through collision, displacement and barrier effects. Interactions of shearwater and petrel species with OWFs have not previously been the focus of targeted research. In comparison with other species, relatively little is known about at-sea behaviour (e.g., flight height, flight speed, nocturnal activity) and demographic rates of shearwaters and petrels. This is mainly because these species are difficult to study and are not thought to have been the primary species interacting with recent developments in UK waters, which predominantly have focussed on the North Sea. However, this is set to change with the proposed developments in Round 4 in the Irish and Celtic Seas, especially floating wind. This project will focus primarily on Manx shearwater (MSW; Puffinus puffinus), European storm petrel (ESP; Hydrobates pelagicus) and Leach’s storm petrel (LSP; Hydrobates leucorhous).
The aim of this project is to fill critical evidence gaps around how Manx shearwaters and storm petrels interact with OWFs (impact pathways) and improve demographic rates and population modelling approaches to allow adequate assessment of potential impacts. This will be achieved by a combination of strategic tracking of birds, behavioural observations, and population modelling, as well as the use of novel technologies and techniques. The project will build on existing efforts to improve baseline data, provide critical evidence around impact pathways and reduce uncertainty in required impact assessment parameters.
The project is divided into four principal work packages (WPs), led by four different organisations. There is also a fifth work package (WP5) which focuses on the project management and dissemination of results. This report focuses on the four main delivery WPs, as Years 1 and 2 predominantly focus on data collection. Within each year of the project, however, are numerous Deliverables which will be available on the Marine Data Exchange1.
WP1 focuses on MSW distribution and impact pathways and is being led by the OxNav Group based at the University of Oxford. WP2 focuses on ESP and LSP distribution and impact pathways and is being led by the RSPB. WP3 focuses on collecting data on MSW and storm petrel flight heights and is being led by JNCC. WP4 focuses on MSW and storm petrel demographic rates and population modelling and is being led by the University of Gloucestershire. The results to-date, next steps, and recommendations for each of the different WPs are the focus of this report.