West Coast Seabird Study shows how they might one day share the air with wind turbines
Tracking how high West Coast seabirds fly will help researchers understand environmental impacts from offshore wind
These birds spend much of their lives in the air. To stay aloft using the least amount of energy, the birds hitch rides on strong gusts of wind to gain altitude and then coast downwards in a flight pattern known as “dynamic soaring.” Researchers want to know whether dynamic soaring—and other flight behavior—might bring these birds to the height of offshore wind turbine blades, which would stretch from 25–260 meters above the water.
“These data add to the baseline understanding of bird behavior and will help us better understand how any future wind turbines may affect seabirds,” said Matzner, who led the development of TT3D at PNNL.The latest work adds to a bulk of research from PNNL that aims to minimize the impact of renewable energy projects on wildlife.While TT3D can generate details about flight patterns and provide some data to help researchers identify species, it doesn’t “see” long distance.
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