Wozep Newsletter - No. 3
This third Wozep newsletter describes the latest progress and results of the Wozep research programme, which addresses the ecological impact of offshore wind farms. You can read about some of the spectacular fieldwork we have done during the last year or that is planned for the near future. It has been a busy season: we have been tagging seals, birds and bats, and tracking birds with the bird radar in the Luchterduinen wind farm.
The first newsletter included a general introduction, which you can find here, about the background and scope of Wozep.
Tracking Sandwich terns
Bureau Waardenburg tagged eighteen Sandwich terns in the ‘De Putten’ nature area near Camperduin in the Netherlands. They are now tracking the birds and using models to establish a clearer picture of offshore flight patterns and the possible effects of wind farms, now and in the future.
Bird flight patterns on radar
The first offshore radar system on the North Sea was installed on a turbine in the Luchterduinen wind farm in 2018. In combination with real-time observations from a platform on the turbine, the resulting data will enhance our understanding of bird flight patterns in and around a wind farm.
Tagging seals near the Borssele location
Wageningen Marine Research (WMR) tagged ten harbour seals and ten grey seals in order to study how they respond to pile-driving for the Borssele wind farms. Wageningen Marine Research tagged harbour seals and grey seals in the coastal waters of Zeeland.
Curlew migration across the North Sea
To learn more about Curlew flight and migration patterns, Bureau Waardenburg will tag Curlews in the south of England with GPS GSM loggers. The resulting GPS data can be used to refine collision models and establish a clearer picture of the size of the population migrating across the southern North Sea.
International interest in Wozep’s bat telemetry
Studies of bat migration across the North Sea have yielded fascinating new information, as shown by the interest from research colleagues from the UK. Wageningen Marine Research, organised the final Wozep tagging campaign in 2019 for Nathusius’ pipistrelles.
For more information about the different individual research topics, you can check out the document page on our website.