This Educational Research Brief summarizes the international and U.S. literature related to potential underwater sound impacts from offshore wind development on marine life, including marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, and invertebrates, with relevance to future development on the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts. While the risks and effects from impact pile driving during wind farm construction are given special attention, additional types of noise from other phases of the wind farm life cycle (e.g., site surveys, operations, and decommissioning) are also considered.
Underwater Noise Effects on Marine Life Associated with Offshore Wind Farms
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The Brief was reviewed by external subject matter experts (Rebecca Faulkner, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science; Dr. James Miller, University of Rhode Island) and the SEER Science and Technical (S&T) Advisory Committee. These subject matter experts also participated in a panel discussion during the SEER Webinar on Underwater Noise and Entanglement Consideration for Offshore Wind Farms.
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The table below contains the literature relevant to this summary document.
| Title | Author | Date Sort ascending | Content Type | Technology | Stressor | Receptor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species | Northeast Fisheries Science Center | Webpage | Birds, Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles | |||
| Comparison of Environmental Effects from Different Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations (2021 Revision) | Horwath, S., Hassrick, J., Grismala, R., Diller, E., Krebs, J., Manhard, R. | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind | Changes in Flow, Habitat Change, Noise | Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Sediment Transport, Water Quality, Reptiles | |
| Installation of offshore wind turbines: A technical review | Jiang, Z. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind | |||
| Ocean Noise and Soundscape Projects | Northeast Fisheries Science Center | Webpage | Noise | |||
| Vineyard Wind 1 Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Collision, Displacement, EMF, Habitat Change, Noise | Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment | |
| Acoustic Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Fishery Resources: An Evolving Source and Varied Effects Across a Wind Farm’s Lifetime | Mooney, T., Andersson, M., Stanley, J. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | Fish, Invertebrates, Human Dimensions, Fisheries | |
| Biological Opinion for Vineyard Wind's Offshore Wind Energy Project | National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Fish, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment | ||
| Underwater noise during percussive pile driving: Influencing factors on pile-driving noise and technical possibilities to comply with noise mitigation values | Bellmann, M., May, A., Wendt, T., Gerlach, S., Remmers, P., Brinkmann, J. | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | ||
| Vineyard Wind 1 Offshore Wind Energy Project: Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Human Dimensions, Environmental Impact Assessment, Navigation | ||
| Underwater Noise Emission Due to Offshore Pile Installation: A Review | Tsouvalas, A. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | ||
| Information Guidelines for a Renewable Energy Construction and Operations Plan (COP) | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) | Guidance | Marine Energy, Wind Energy | Human Dimensions, Legal & Policy | ||
| Taking the Animals' Perspective Regarding Anthropogenic Underwater Sound | Popper, A., Hawkins, A., Thomsen, F. | Journal Article | Marine Energy, Wind Energy | Noise | Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals | |
| Noise mitigation for the construction of increasingly large offshore wind turbines | Koschinski, S., Lüdemann, K. | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | ||
| Characterization of impact pile driving signals during installation of offshore wind turbine foundations | Amaral, J., Miller, J., Potty, G., Vigness-Raposa, K., Frankel, A., Lin, Y., Newhall, A., Wilkes, D., Gavrilov, A. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | ||
| What is sound? | Discovery of Sound in the Sea | Webpage | ||||
| Technologies for Ocean Acoustic Monitoring | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | Webpage | ||||
| The Effects of Ship Noise on Marine Mammals—A Review | Erbe, C., Marley, S., Schoeman, R., Smith, J., Trigg, L., Embling, C. | Journal Article | Marine Mammals | |||
| Causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in animal responses to anthropogenic noise | Harding, H., Gordon, T., Eastcott, E., Simpson, S., Radford, A. | Journal Article | Noise | |||
| A Framework for Studying the Effects of Offshore Wind Development on Marine Mammals and Turtles | Kraus, S., Kenney, R., Thomas, L. | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles | ||
| Underwater Acoustic Monitoring Data Analyses for the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island | HDR | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | Fish, Marine Mammals | |
| An overview of fish bioacoustics and the impacts of anthropogenic sounds on fishes | Popper, A., Hawkins, A. | Journal Article | Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | Fish | |
| Wildlife and Wind Farms - Conflicts and Solutions, Volume 3. Offshore: Potential Effects | Perrow, M. | Book | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind | Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment | ||
| Appendix III-M Supplemental Information for the Assessment of Potential Impacts to Marine Mammals and Sea Turtles During Construction, Operation, and Decommissioning of the Vineyard Wind Project | Pyć, C., Zeddies, D., Denes, S., Weirathmueller, M. | Report | Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind | Noise | Marine Mammals, Reptiles, Sea Turtles | |
| Effects of Noise on Marine Mammals | Erbe, C., Dunlop, R., Dolman, S. | Book Chapter | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Marine Energy | Noise | Marine Mammals | |
| 2018 Revision to: Technical Guidance for Assessing the Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammal Hearing (Version 2.0): Underwater Thresholds for Onset of Permanent and Temporary Threshold Shifts | National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) | Guidance | Noise | Marine Mammals | ||
| Underwater sound from vessel traffic reduces the effective communication range in Atlantic cod and haddock | Stanley, J., Van Parijs, S., Hatch, L. | Journal Article | Noise | Fish | ||
| Bubble Curtains Attenuate Noise from Offshore Wind Farm Construction and Reduce Temporary Habitat Loss for Harbour Porpoises | Dähne, M., Tougaard, J., Carstensen, J., Rose, A., Nabe-Nielsen, J. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | Marine Mammals | |
| Developing an essential ocean variable for the acoustic environment | Tyack, P. | Journal Article | Noise | |||
| Broad-Scale Acoustic Monitoring for Cetaceans and Underwater Noise in Relation to Offshore Wind Farm Construction in Scotland | Brookes, K., Edwards, E., Merchant, N., Davies, I. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | Marine Mammals, Cetaceans | |
| Measurements of hydro sound emissions during internal jet cutting during monopile decommissioning | Hinzmann, N., Stein, P., Gattermann, J., Bachmann, J., Duff, G. | Conference Paper | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | ||
| Geophysical and Geotechnical Investigation Methodology Assessment for Siting Renewable Energy Facilities on the Atlantic OCS | Fugro Marine GeoServices Inc. | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Floating Offshore Wind | |||
| Avoidance of Wind Farms by Harbour Seals is Limited to Pile Driving Activities | Russell, D., Hastie, G., Thompson, D., Janik, V., Hammond, P., Scott-Hayward, L., Matthiopoulos, J., Jones, E., McConnell, B. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Avoidance, Noise | Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds | |
| Hearing in the Juvenile Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas): A Comparison of Underwater and Aerial Hearing Using Auditory Evoked Potentials | Piniak, W., Mann, D., Harms, C., Jones, T., Eckert, S. | Journal Article | Noise | Reptiles, Sea Turtles | ||
| Environmental impacts of offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea: Environmental impact monitoring reloaded | Degraer, S., Brabant, R., Rumes, B., Vigin, L. | Report | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Attraction, Avoidance, Habitat Change, Noise | Bats, Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment, Human Dimensions, Fisheries | |
| An Interim Framework for Assessing the Population Consequences of Disturbance | King, S., Schick, R., Donovan, C., Booth, C., Burgman, M., Thomas, L., Harwood, J. | Journal Article | Ecosystem Processes | |||
| Disturbance Effects on the Harbour Porpoise Population in the North Sea (DEPONS): Status report on model development | van Beest, F., Nabe-Nielsen, J., Carstensen, J., Teilmann, J., Tougaard, J. | Report | Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise | Marine Mammals | |
| Assessing Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms: Lessons Learned and Recommendations for the Future | Bailey, H., Brookes, K., Thompson, P. | Journal Article | Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise, Displacement, Collision, Avoidance, Attraction | Marine Mammals, Ecosystem Processes, Birds | |
| 200 kHz Commercial Sonar Systems Generate Lower Frequency Side Lobes Audible to Some Marine Mammals | Deng, Z., Southall, B., Carlson, T., Xu, J., Martinez, J., Weiland, M., Ingraham, J. | Journal Article | Noise | Marine Mammals, Cetaceans | ||
| Seismic Surveys Negatively Affect Humpback Whale Singing Activity off Northern Angola | Cerchio, S., Strindberg, S., Collins, T., Bennett, C., Rosenbaum, H. | Journal Article | Noise | Marine Mammals, Cetaceans | ||
| Quieting Technologies for Reducing Noise During Seismic Surveying and Pile Driving Workshop Report | CSA Ocean Sciences Inc | Report | Marine Energy, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind | Noise |