Baleen Whale Vocalisations
Many baleen (mysticete) whales produce high-intensity calls, the frequency content of which resides primarily in a band below 1 kHz. Consequently, there is a reasonable probability of vocalising animals being detected on hydrophones designed to collect marine-acoustic geophysical data, such as towed and bottom-mounted seismic streamers. This represents an opportunity to collect potentially untapped data […]
Spatial Impact of Wind Farm Construction on Harbor Porpoise Detectability
To combat impacts of climate change, offshore wind farm construction is accelerating globally. Accompanying increases in construction activity have raised concerns about associated noise impacts on acoustically sensitive species, including harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). This study investigated spatial impacts from the construction of ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia ONE (EA1) offshore wind farm (310 pin-piles), located […]
Detection of invasive fish species with passive acoustics: Discriminating between native and non-indigenous sciaenids
Invasive alien species have been rising exponentially in the last decades impacting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The soniferous weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, is a recent invasive sciaenid species in the Iberian Peninsula and was first reported in the Tagus estuary in 2015. There is concern about its possible impacts on native species, namely the confamiliar meagre, […]
Offshore decommissioning horizon scan: Research priorities to support decision-making activities for oil and gas infrastructure
Thousands of oil and gas structures have been installed in the world’s oceans over the past 70 years to meet the population’s reliance on hydrocarbons. Over the last decade, there has been increased concern over how to handle decommissioning of this infrastructure when it reaches the end of its operational life. Complete or partial removal […]
Editorial: Seafloor heterogeneity: Artificial structures and marine ecosystem dynamics – recent advances
During the past several centuries, marine coastal ecosystems have been altered at alarming rates as a result of ever increasing anthropogenic influences (McCauley et al., 2015; Halpern et al., 2019; Duarte et al., 2020). While impacts of anthropogenic climate change have already been manifested in the form of, for example, decreased ocean productivity, altered food […]
A framework for net environmental benefit analysis-based comparative assessment of decommissioning options for anthropogenic subsea structures: a North Sea case study
Nicolette, J.J., Nelson, N.A., Rockel, M.K., Rockel, M.L., Testoff, A.N., Johnson, L.J., Williamson, L.D., and Todd, V.L.G. A framework for net environmental benefit analysis-based comparative assessment of decommissioning options for anthropogenic subsea structures: a North Sea case study. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1020334 Taxpayers and operators worldwide have significant current liabilities associated with decommissioning of offshore Oil & Gas (O&G) […]
