title: Noise Mitigation During Pile Driving Efficiently Reduces Disturbance of Marine Mammals.
abstract: Acoustic monitoring of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena L., 1758) indicated a strongly reduced disturbance by noise emitted by pile driving for offshore wind turbine foundations insulated by a big bubble curtain (BBC). This newly developed noise mitigation system was tested during construction of the offshore wind farm Borkum West II (North Sea). Because porpoise activity strongly corresponded to the sound level, operation of the new system under its most suitable configuration reduced the porpoise disturbance area by ~90%. Hence, for the first time, a positive effect of a noise mitigation system during offshore pile driving on an affected marine mammal species could be demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: BioConsult SH GmbH & Co.KG, Brinckmannstrasse 31, 25813, Husum, Germany. g.nehls@bioconsult-sh.de.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nehls
authors.affiliation: BioConsult SH GmbH & Co.KG, Brinckmannstrasse 31, 25813, Husum, Germany. a.rose@bioconsult-sh.de.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: BioConsult SH GmbH & Co.KG, Brinckmannstrasse 31, 25813, Husum, Germany. a.diederichs@bioconsult-sh.de.
authors.forename: Ansgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diederichs
authors.affiliation: Institute of Technical and Applied Physics GmbH (itap), 26129, Oldenburg, Germany. bellmann@itap.de.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellmann
authors.affiliation: BioConsult SH GmbH & Co.KG, Brinckmannstrasse 31, 25813, Husum, Germany. h.pehlke@bioconsult-sh.de.
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pehlke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000502:physiology*; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D009622:Noise / Q000517:prevention & control*; D050741:Phocoena / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Big bubble curtain; Harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena; Noise pollution; Offshore wind farm; Sound exposure level