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Guidance on Survey and Monitoring in Relation to Marine Renewables Deployments in Scotland Volume 2: Cetaceans and Basking Sharks

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Guidance on Survey and Monitoring in Relation to Marine Renewables Deployments in Scotland Volume 2: Cetaceans and Basking Sharks Guidance on Survey and Monitoring in Relation to Marine Renewables Deployments in Scotland Volume 2: Cetaceans and Basking Sharks This report was produced by SMRU Ltd and Royal Haskoning on behalf of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Marine Scotland (MS). It provides guidance and protocols for the conduct of site characterisation surveys and impact monitoring programmes for cetaceans and basking sharks for marine (wave and tidal) renewables developments in Scotland. Four accompanying volumes are also available, covering: Vol 1. Context and General Principals Vol 3. Seals Vol 4. Birds Vol 5. Benthic Habitats At present, the contents of all five reports should be regarded as recommendations to SNH and MS but not as formal SNH or MS guidance. It is the intention of both organisations to prepare a separate, short overview of the documents offering additional guidance on SNH and Marine Scotland’s preferred approach to key issues such as survey effort, site characterisation and links to Scottish Government’s Survey, Deploy and Monitor policy. To assist in the preparation of this guidance note, the views of developers, consultants and others involved in the marine renewables sector are sought on the content of this and the accompanying reports. Specifically we would welcome feedback on: A. The format and structure of the current reports B. Changes that should be considered C. Key issues that you would wish to see incorporated within the guidance note. Feedback should be provided by e-mail to SNH ([email protected]) by 31 October 2011, marked ‘Marine Renewables Guidance Feedback’. It is hoped that developers and their advisers will find these documents to be a useful resource for planning and delivery of site characterisation surveys and impact monitoring programmes. They may be cited, but any such reference must refer to the draft status of the report concerned and to its specific authors. For this report (Volume 2), the appropriate citation is: Macleod, K., Lacey, C., Quick, N., Hastie, G. and Wilson J. (2011). Guidance on survey and monitoring in relation to marine renewables deployments in Scotland. Volume 2. Cetaceans and Basking Sharks. Unpublished draft report to Scottish Natural Heritage and Marine Scotland. Queries regarding this guidance should be addressed to: [email protected] CONSULTATION DRAFT Guidance on survey and monitoring in relation to marine renewables deployments in Scotland. Vol 2. Cetaceans and Basking Sharks. This draft report should be cited as: Macleod, K., Lacey, C., Quick, N., Hastie, G. and Wilson J. (2011). Guidance on survey and monitoring in relation to marine renewables deployments in Scotland. Volume 2. Cetaceans and Basking Sharks. Unpublished draft report to Scottish Natural Heritage and Marine Scotland. This report, or any part of it, should not be reproduced without the permission of Scottish Natural Heritage. This permission will not be withheld unreasonably. The views expressed by the author(s) of this report should not be taken as the views and policies of Scottish Natural Heritage or of Marine Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage 2011 Volume II: Cetaceans and basking sharks ii Selected Acronyms AA Appropriate Assessment AC alternating current BACI Before-After/Control-Impact CREEM Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling CRRU Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit CV coefficient of variation DAQ data acquisition devices DC direct current DECC Department of Energy and Climate Change DR data recorder EAR Ecological Acoustic Recorder EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMEC European Marine Energy Centre EMF electromagnetic fields EPS European Protected Species FPS Fixed Point Surveys GAM Generalised Additive Model GMT Greenwich Mean Team GPS Global Positioning System IM Impact Monitoring IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature JNCC Joint Nature Conservation Committee NMEA National Marine Electronics Association PAM Passive Acoustic Monitoring POD Porpoise Detector pSAC possible Special Area of Conservation PTS Permanent Threshold Shift SAC Special Area of Conservation SCANS Small Cetaceans in the European Atlantic and North Sea SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SMRU Sea Mammal Research Unit SSPCA Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals TCE The Crown Estate TS Transect Surveys TTS Temporary Threshold Shift USB Universal Serial Bus VP Vantage Point W&CA Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Volume II: Cetaceans and basking sharks iii Table of Contents Page 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................. 1 2 IDENTIFICATION OF KEY SPECIES AND HABITATS..................................... 2 2.1 Harbour poirpoise ........................................................................................ 3 2.2 Minke whale................................................................................................. 4 2.3 Bottlenose dolphin ....................................................................................... 5 2.4 Common dolphin.......................................................................................... 6 2.5 White-beaked dolphin .................................................................................. 6 2.6 Risso’s dolphin............................................................................................. 7 2.7 Killer whale................................................................................................... 7 2.8 Basking shark .............................................................................................. 8 3 RELEVANT LEGISLATION.............................................................................. 10 3.1 Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (W&CA) ................................................................................................. 10 3.2 European Habitats Directive: Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (applicable within the 12nm territorial waters).................................................................................................................. 10 3.3 Environmental Impact Assessment............................................................ 11 3.4 European Habitats Directive: Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007 (applicable outwith 12nm territorial waters) ....... 12 3.5 Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) ...................................................... 12 4 POTENTIAL IMPACTS..................................................................................... 14 4.1 Construction impacts ................................................................................. 14 4.2 Operational impacts ................................................................................... 16 4.3 Decommissioning impacts ......................................................................... 20 5 KEY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED BY MONITORING............................. 22 5.1 Pre construction: Characterisation ............................................................. 22 5.2 Impact monitoring ...................................................................................... 24 6 EXISTING INFORMATION AND DATA SOURCES......................................... 26 7 STUDY DESIGN ............................................................................................... 29 7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 29 7.2 Spatial scale............................................................................................... 29 7.3 Temporal scale .......................................................................................... 30 7.4 Effort and uncertainty................................................................................. 31 7.5 Encouraging collaboration.......................................................................... 34 7.6 Adaptive management ............................................................................... 34 7.7 Case Study: Marine Mammal Monitoring at Marine Current Turbines SeaGen tidal turbine, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland.................................... 35 8 SURVEY METHODS FOR ESTABLISHING THE CHARACTERISATION CONDITIONS OF A WET RENEWABLES SITE FOR CETACEANS AND BASKING SHARKS .................................................................................................................. 38 8.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 38 8.2 Fixed Point Surveys ................................................................................... 42 8.3 Transect Surveys ....................................................................................... 45 8.4 Other methods ........................................................................................... 50 8.5 Collision risk of cetaceans and basking sharks.......................................... 51 9 MONITORING METHODS TO ESTABLISH IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF WAVE AND TIDAL DEVICES............................................. 54 9.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 54 Volume II: Cetaceans and basking sharks iv 9.2 Disturbance and/or displacement during construction, deployment and operation of device(s) ..........................................................................................
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