Environmental consultancy APEM has completed seabird and marine mammal surveys for Vattenfall’s 1.8GW Norfolk Boreas offshore wind farm off the east coast of England.
More than 34,000 ultra-high resolution digital photographs have been taken using aircraft-mounted camera systems over 24 months, APEM said.
The images will be used by the project team to prepare its final environmental assessments.
APEM also used a new method agreed with statutory nature conservation bodies to provide absolute density estimates for marine mammals from aerial digital data.
Vattenfall consent manager for Norfolk Boreas Jake Laws said: “We need the data that APEM gathers so we can make a proper analysis of the potential impact that Norfolk Boreas could have on seabirds and marine mammals.
“APEM’s hi-tech approach is really exciting and, importantly, effective in gathering reliable data.”
APEM project manager Sean Sweeney said: “We are delighted to have completed the survey programme without missing a single month, despite some challenging weather conditions over the last two years.
“Our new method for using our aerial digital data to estimate population densities of marine mammals is a significant advance for the industry and we’re looking forward to continuing to provide high resolution aerial digital surveys for Vattenfall.”
Image: APEM
Boreas completes wildlife map
By EBS