In the hopes of makingoffshore wind farmsa moment more seabird - friendly , a trio of first - of - their - kind artificial nesting structures have been planted off the coast of Britain in the North Sea . By providing shelves for nests , the giant Bronx cheer boxes place to help with the trade protection of one of the UK ’s most troubled sea bird mintage , the black - legged kittiwake .
Red7Marine , who undulate out the projection alongside Danish energy giant Ørsted , explain that the structure ’s narrow ledge and perpendicular sides were project to copy the cliff where seabirds would by nature nuzzle . Seven of the body structure ’s eight vertical side walls are fit with 500 nesting compartments . It feature eight side to give the razzing a diversity of options in casing one side is too sunny or too breezy .
Two of the artificial nesting social organization were installed approximately 1 kilometer ( 0.6 miles ) from the shoreline of South Beach in Lowestoft , while the third was placed 1.4 klick ( 0.86 naut mi ) from the slide of the RSPB Minsmere Nature Reserve .
Another glimpse of Red7Marine’s artificial nesting structures.Image courtesy of Red7Marine.
They were built as part of an concord to offset the impact of the Hornsea Three Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea , which aims to generate enough power to meet the daily needs of 3 million household in the UK .
metre will tell whether the task will be effective . The nesting structures will be monitored each class to reckon the number of birds and their nests . This information , together with data from other monitoring system in Northeast England and East Suffolk , will all be share with local seabird preservation group .
The stilted nesting anatomical structure was grow by a team of ecologist , designer , and engineers to meet the needs of seabirds in the North Sea .
The black-legged kittiwake in all its black-legged beauty.Image credit: Wolfgang Kruck/Shutterstock.com
In particular , the project is geared towards theconservationof the grim - legged kittiwake ( Rissa tridactyla ) , a member of the gull family that ’s vulnerable to extinction . This species is confront with dwindling population numbers due to a change of threat , primarilyclimate changeand a decrease in food informant . As scientistshave mark , poorly planned offshore wind farm can posture yet another burden to the seabirds by disturbing their natural habitat .
It is n’t just the black - legged kittiwake that ’s struggle to cope with our drastically change worldly concern . Globally , seabirds are experiencing foresightful - term population declivity . Oneestimatesuggests that total population had pass up by 69.6 per centum , tantamount to a deprivation of about 230 million birds in 60 years .
defilement , bycatch from commercial fishing operations , the clime crisis , and dislocation to their intellectual nourishment germ are some of the major issues , but wind farm are another underestimated scourge .
Approximately140,000 to 500,000 birdie die each twelvemonth as a result of collisions with breaking wind turbine blades in the US . The construction of offshore farms can also upset their habitat and turn as roadblock across their migration routes .
A bit of unlike studies have investigate way of life to curtail the damaging impact of confidential information turbines on birds . Onesuggestedthat painting them bleak and white could help oneself reduce the number of collisions with blade . Anotherbold ideainvolved using smart cameras to find the presence of bird , key if they are endangered , and shut down the spinning blades before wallop .
