How the impacts of wind turbines on Marine Life is being studied

The South Taranaki Bight, an offshore wind energy project, is monitoring the impacts of turbines on marine life through using marine mammal detection devices. The project, which aims to build 70 turbines, will position three Passive Acoustic Monitoring devices on the seabed for 12 months. The devices will detect vocalisations from marine mammals, which will be recorded and held in onboard computers.The primary target will be blue whales, pygmy blue whales, and southern right whales, but other whale species and dolphins will also be captured. The devices, which were blessed by Ngāti Ruanui iwi members, carry hydrophones to detect vocalisations from marine mammals. The devices will be recorded and retrieved when brought to the surface. The study is crucial for understanding the potential impacts of wind turbines on whales and dolphins, as it will help design mitigation measures and ways to avoid harm.The devices were deployed by Australian company Jasco Applied Sciences, and the project is expected to generate up to 1GW of power and provide about 11% of New Zealand's electricity needs. The partnership aims to begin a three to four-year construction and commissioning stage in 2030, regulatory environment permitting.