Artificial reefs with completely new biotopes are forming underwater at the foundations of the turbines whilte these wind farms serve as a refuge for some fish. But people are saying that not all creatures benefit from the offshore turbines. Harbor porpoises, for example, are driven away by the construction noise and some bird species collide with the turbines’ rotor blades.
Scientists across Europe are trying to keep pace with the rapid expansion of offshore wind energy. The long-term effects on the marine environment in particular are still unclear but we will find out, probably in the last minute we can change it or the last minute in their or our existance but we will find out. "Things are changing, but in which direction?” asks Belgian marine scientist Jan Vanaverbeke.
Ursula Siebert from the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research in Hanover dissects porpoises that have washed up dead in the North and Baltic Seas. She has observed that the animals' sensitive ears are cracked. Is the damage caused by wind farm construction noise? Edible crabs, on the other hand, presumably benefit from the new underwater biotope, explains Wolfgang Nikolaus Probst from the Thünen Institute in Braunschweig. He has studied the edible crab populations off Heligoland.
How can birds be protected from collisions with wind turbines? In Norway, scientists are experimenting with painted rotor blades - something that has already significantly reduced the risk of bird collisions with turbines on land.
