Our new open access
paper, published on 14 April, may be of interest to you: Todd VLG,
Warley JC, Todd IB (2016) Meals on Wheels? A Decade of megafaunal
visual and acoustic observations from offshore oil & gas rigs
and platforms in the North and Irish Seas. PLoS ONE 11(4):
e0153320. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153320
Abstract
A decade of visual and acoustic detections of marine megafauna
around offshore Oil & Gas (O&G) installations in the North
and Irish Seas are presented. Marine megafauna activity was
monitored visually and acoustically by Joint Nature Conservation
Committee (JNCC) qualified and experienced Marine Mammal Observers
(MMO) and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Operators respectively,
with real-time towed PAM in combination with industry standard
software, PAMGuard. Monitoring was performed during routine O&G
industrial operations for underwater noise mitigation purposes, and
to ensure adherence to regulatory guidelines. Incidental sightings
by off-effort MMOs and installation crew were also reported. Visual
and acoustic monitoring spanned 55 non-consecutive days between 2004
and 2014. A total of 47 marine mammal sightings were recorded by
MMOs on dedicated watch, and 10 incidental sightings of marine
megafauna were reported over 10 years. Species included: harbour
porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), Atlantic white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus
acutus), white beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris),
common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), minke whale (Balaenoptera
acutorostrata), common seal (Phoca vitulina), grey seal
(Halichoerus grypus) and, basking shark (Cetorhinus
maximus). Passive Acoustic Monitoring was conducted on two
occasions in 2014; 160 PAM hours over 12 days recorded a total of
308 individual clicks identified as harbour porpoises. These appear
to be the first such acoustic detections obtained from a North Sea
drilling rig whilst using a typically configured hydrophone array
designed for towing in combination with real-time PAMGuard software.
This study provides evidence that marine megafauna are present
around mobile and stationary offshore O&G installations during
routine operational activities. On this basis, Environmental Impact
Assessments (EIAs) for decommissioning O&G platforms should be
carried-out on a case-by-case basis, and must include provisions for
hitherto overlooked marine megafauna.