One of the criticisms of offshore wind farms is the potential for disruption of natural habits for wildlife, namely sea creatures and birds. As a result, environmental impact studies are a big part of the wind permitting process.
One study, performed in the United Kingdom, looked at a very different aspect of the sitution. It examined the potential for habitat creation by the placement of offshore wind turbines and concluded that the net amount of wildlife habitat might actually increase by the presence of the turbines, although its character would change.
Recently, this idea has taken hold in the form of a new program designed to revitalize the lobster population off the German island of Helgoland. Lobster fishing was a thriving industry in Helgoland for centuries, with 80,000 caught per season in the 1930s. However, the local lobster population was decimated by bombs and mines during World War II. These days, only a few hundred lobsters are caught there each year.
So scientists from the Biological Institute of Helgoland have bred thousands of lobsters in captivity and they are going to be released into the sea at the foot of the Borkum Riffgat offshore wind farm now under construction. The lobsters’ survival depends on a firm seabed, which is not common in the silty German Bight. However, the foundations of the 30 wind turbines in the new farm are protected by rock fill, which serves an an ideal habitat for the lobster populations.
Offshore wind farms have environmental impacts, but perhaps they aren’t always negative.
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Crustacean Comeback: Scientists Plan to Settle Lobsters In Wind Farms
Photo, taken on May 9, 2010, courtesy of Morisius Cosmonaut via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Support for Earth Wise comes from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.