Harbour porpoise occurrence in relation to the Prinses Amaliawindpark

The potential effects of the construction and operation of wind farms at sea on marine life is a pertinent question in today’s world. Although for this report we focus on harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), wind farms have the potential to affect all marine life, including marine mammals, fish, birds, and benthic species. Indeed research has shown that effects of the construction and or operation of wind farms on marine life occur; for example on seals (e.g. Edrén et al., 2004), harbour porpoises (e.g. Gilles et al., 2009), birds (e.g. Leopold et al., under review) fish (e.g. Hvidt et al., 2005), and benthic organisms (e.g. Zettler & Pollehne, 2006). However, not all effects are negative, with research showing positive effects on for example, the benthic macro-fauna (Zettler & Pollehne 2006). These authors found a general increase in diversity, abundance and biomass of benthic macro-fauna on the new hard substrate of wind turbines.