Harbor porpoises not affected by offshore work
Follow-up study confirms: No measurable effects of offshore pile driving on the harbor porpoise population in the German North Sea.
A study by BioConsult SH, IBL Umweltplanung and the Institute for Applied Ecosystem Research (IFaOe) examined the effects of pile driving during the construction of offshore wind farms and the resulting noise development on harbor porpoises in the German North Sea. Negative effects of the construction project on the harbor porpoise population there could not be ascertained.
The study "Effects of offshore pile driving on the occurrence of harbor porpoises in the German Bight" (short: Overall study Sound Effects 2 / GESCHA 2) was carried out on behalf of the Federal Association of Wind Farm Operators Offshore (BWO) for ten companies from the offshore wind industry. The study takes into account hydro noise data as well as data from harbor porpoise counts from the aircraft in the German Bight from 2014 to 2016 as well as the database of a previous study from 2009-2013. In total, data from 2.557 days were analyzed and evaluated.
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Email: l.dettmer@bwo-offshorewind.de