Megafauna Aerial Surveys in the Wind Energy Areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island with Emphasis on Large Whales: Interim Report Campaign 6a, 2020

Summary

Branch: Executive

Category: Executive Agency Publications

SuDoc Class Number: I 72.

Government Author: Interior Department, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Personal Author: O'Brien O; McKenna K; Pendleton D; Redfern JV

Series Title: BOEM Environmental Studies

Publication Title: Megafauna Aerial Surveys in the Wind Energy Areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island with Emphasis on Large Whales: Interim Report Campaign 6a, 2020

Date Issued: 2021

Subject: Marine Biodiversity
Marine Mammals
wind energy; North Atlantic right whale; aerial survey; zooplankton; abundance

Obligation Number: M17AC00002

Geographic Scope: Atlantic

Report Number: BOEM 2021-054

CSE Reference: O'Brien O, McKenna K, Pendleton D, Redfern JV (New England Aquarium, Boston, MA). 2021. Megafauna aerial surveys in the wind energy areas of Massachusetts and Rhode Island with emphasis on large whales: interim report campaign 6A, 2020. Washington (DC): US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Obligation No.: M17AC00002. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2021-054. URL: https://espis.boem.gov/Final%20Reports/BOEM_2021-054.pdf

Abstract: The Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) designated two wind energy areas (WEAs) in New England: one offshore of Massachusetts and the other offshore of both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Currently, four offshore wind developers have lease agreements to build projects in these areas. The New England Aquarium has conducted systematic aerial surveys of endangered whales, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialias), and sea turtles in these areas since 2011. This study analyzed results from the Campaign 5 surveys conducted in the study area between October 2018 and August 2019, and also analyzed right whale prey species and oceanographic conditions near right whale aggregations during Campaign 4 and 5. The most striking results from the aerial surveys were the changes in right whale seasonal abundances and distributions. Right whale density and abundance estimates calculated for Campaigns 4-5 show higher right whale densities in recent years (2017-2019) than in past years (2011-2015). In addition, right whales consistently occurred in the study area year-round during Campaigns 4 and 5, but not during 2011-2015. Campaigns 4-5 also show that right whales are increasing their use of the eastern side of the study area (i.e., in and adjacent to Nantucket Shoals). The oceanographic analysis indicated that there is not one single primary prey that right whales target in the study area; instead, there are several possible prey species, including Centropages spp., Pseudocalanus spp., and C. finmarchicus, and the importance of these species as a food source for right whales varies with the season. Further research is needed to understand why right whales aggregate on Nantucket Shoals, which was not part of the area we could regularly conduct oceanographic sampling during the winter and spring.