TY - RPRT
TI - Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind COP Appendix II-L2: Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Presence
AU - Biodiversity Research Institute
AB - This report supplements the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Construction and Operations Plan.Thirty-eight species of marine mammals and four species of sea turtles occur regularly within the Northwest Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf and may use waters in the vicinity of Atlantic Shores Lease Area OCS-A 0499 (Lease Area).To document the species within the Lease Area, as well as seasonal variation in their occurrence, digital aerial surveys were flown by APEM across the Lease Area from October 2020 to May 2021 in spring, fall and winter.APEM processed and screened all images and classified potential detections to the species level or next higher taxonomic grouping.For this analysis, naïve densities of each species/taxonomic grouping were calculated based on effort and examined across seasons.Mean group size of each marine mammal species/taxonomic grouping was also calculated.For marine mammals, common dolphins were generally most common in the Lease Area and found in the largest groups, while fin whales were the least common.For sea turtles, Kemp’s ridley turtle were generally most common in the Lease Area.Results must be interpreted carefully given certain limitations in the analyses, including a lack of total seasonal coverage.
DA - 2022/08//
PY - 2022
SP - 16
PB - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
UR - https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/atlantic-shores-offshore-wind-construction-and-operations-plan
LA - English
KW - Wind Energy
KW - Fixed Offshore Wind
KW - Marine Mammals
KW - Reptiles
KW - Sea Turtles
ER -