Gannets facing wind farm risks

Wind farms out a sea are probably less harmful to wildlife than land-based ones.

While foundations are being laid, noise scares fish and whales away but, once the generators are up and running, wild creatures return.

Migrating land birds are vulnerable if they blunder into a forest of rotating giants but the overall risk is low. Seabirds spend long periods near wind-farms but most species fly so low over the water that they’re at little risk from turbines. Gannets may be an exception; they fly at collision risk height. With eyes focused downwards, they search for telltale signs of fish. When a shoal is spotted, they rise to gain height, oblivious to the danger from blades, and plummet almost vertically into the water. On the other hand, a report published last year by the British Trust for Ornithology suggested that gannets tend to avoid wind farms. Nobody really knows how serious the risks are; victims’ carcasses are soon swept away by the sea.