Short Science Summary: Collision Risk

Fish

Potential for Animals to be Injured by Turbines: Collision Risk

The presence of marine renewable energy (MRE) devices—particularly the rotating blades of tidal and river turbines—is thought to pose a risk to marine animals. Animals might come into close contact with turbine blades in the course of their natural movements, because they are attracted to the device for purposes of feeding, shelter, or out of curiosity, or because they are not strong enough to avoid currents that might sweep them into the blades.

The concern is that a collision with moving device parts (e.g., turbine blades), a moving device (e.g., tidal kite), or perhaps the stationary part of a device (e.g., foundation) could cause irrevocable injury or death. For animal populations that are under stress for other reasons, such as climate change or other human activities, loss of even a few members due to collision might affect the survivability of the population. The greatest concerns are for marine mammals, especially those in protected or declining populations; commercially and recreationally important fish species; and endangered seabirds.

This Short Science Summary was developed based on the OES-Environmental 2020 State of the Science Report: Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development Around the World, specifically Chapter 3: Collision Risk for Animals around Turbines. 

The table below contains the literature relevant to this summary document and will continue to be updated as new literature is added to Tethys.

Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Operational Noise from Tidal Turbine Arrays and the Assessment of Collision Risk with Marine Mammals Marmo, B. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision, Noise Marine Mammals
Good noise, bad noise: A tricky case of balancing risk of physical injury against acoustic disturbance for marine mammals and tidal energy devices Wilson, B., Marmo, B., Lepper, P., Risch, D., Benjamins, S., Hastie, G., Carter, C. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision, Noise Marine Mammals
Computational Prediction of Pressure Change in the Vicinity of Tidal Stream Turbines and the Consequences for Fish Survival Rate Zangiabadi, E., Masters, I., Williams, A., Croft, T., Malki, R., Edmunds, M., Mason-Jones, A., Horsfall, I. Journal Article Tidal, Marine Energy Habitat Change, Collision Fish
Tidal Energy Fish Impact: Method Development to Determine the Impact of Open Water Tidal Energy Converters on Fish Smit, M., Winter, E., Scheijgrond, P., Bergmeijer, P., Schuitema, R., Nichols, C., Visser, B., Thijssen, M., Quesson, B., van Duren, L., Griffioen, B., van Keeken, O., Boom, L., Nauw, J. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Fish
Hydroacoustic Analysis of the Effects of a Tidal Power Turbine on Fishes Viehman, H. Thesis Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish
Interactions of Aquatic Animals with the ORPC OCGen in Cobscook Bay, Maine: Monitoring Behavior Change and Assessing the Probability of Encounter with a Deployed MHK Device Zydlewski, G., Staines, G., Viehman, H., Shen, H., Altenritter, M. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Habitat Change, Collision, Avoidance Fish
A Coordinated Action Plan for Addressing Collision Risk for Marine Mammals and Tidal Turbines Hutchison, I., Copping, A. Workshop Article Marine Energy, Tidal Avoidance, Collision Marine Mammals
Informing a Tidal Turbine Strike Probability Model through Characterization of Fish Behavioral Response using Multibeam Sonar Output Bevelhimer, M., Colby, J., Adonizio, M., Tomichek, C., Scherelis, C. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision, Avoidance, Attraction Fish
Estimating the probability of fish encountering a marine hydrokinetic device Shen, H., Zydlewski, G., Viehman, H., Staines, G. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish
Assessing collision risk between underwater turbines and marine wildlife Scottish Natural Heritage Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision
Tidal Turbine Collision Detection Requirements Report Jha, S. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Tidal Turbine Collision Detection: A review of the state-of-the-art sensors and imaging systems for detecting mammal collisions Jha, S. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Brims Tidal Array Collision Risk Modelling - Atlantic Salmon Xodus Group Report Marine Energy, Tidal Avoidance, Collision Fish, Pelagic Fish
Refining Estimates of Collision Risk for Harbour Seals and Tidal Turbines Band, B., Sparling, C., Thompson, D., Onoufriou, J., San Martin, E., West, N. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Pinnipeds, Marine Mammals
Data Based Estimates of Collision Risk: An Example Based on Harbour Seal Tracking Data around a Proposed Tidal Turbine Array in the Pentland Firth Thompson, D., Onoufriou, J., Brownlow, A., Morris, C. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Attraction, Avoidance, Collision Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds
A Self-Contained Subsea Platform for Acoustic Monitoring of the Environment Around Marine Renewable Energy Devices - Field Deployments at Wave and Tidal Energy Sites in Orkney, Scotland Williamson, B., Blondel, P., Armstrong, E., Bell, P., Hall, C., Waggitt, J., Scott, B. Journal Article Wave, Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Marine Mammals, Fish, Birds
MR7.2.2 Collision Risk and Impact Study: Examination of Models for Estimating the Risk of Collisions Between Seals and Tidal Turbines Lonergan, M., Thompson, D. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Pinnipeds, Marine Mammals
MR7.2.3 Collision Risk and Impact Study: Field Tests of Turbine Blade-Seal Carcass Collisions Thompson, D., Brownlow, A., Onoufriou, J., Moss, S. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Pinnipeds, Marine Mammals
MR7.2.1 Collision Risk: A Brief Review of Available Information on Behaviour of Mammals and Birds in High Tidal Energy Areas Onoufriou, J., Thompson, D. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Marine Mammals, Birds
Understanding the Risk to Marine Mammals from Collision with a Tidal Turbine Copping, A., Jepsen, R., Grear, M., Gorton, A., Chartrand, C. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Advancing a Key Consenting Risk for Tidal Energy: The Risk of Marine Mammal Collision for In-Stream Tidal Energy Devices Booth, C., Sparling, C., Wood, J., Tollitt, D., Scott-Heyward, L., Rexstad, E., Hultgren, Y., Johnsson, M., Knutzen, E. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Improvements to Probabilistic Tidal Turbine-Fish Interaction Model Parameters Tomichek, C., Colby, J., Adonizio, M. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Avoidance, Collision Fish, Demersal Fish
Evaluation of Behavior and Survival of Fish Exposed to an Axial-Flow Hydrokinetic Turbine Amaral, S., Bevelhimer, M., Cada, G., Giza, D., Jacobson, P., McMahon, B., Pracheil, B. Journal Article Tidal, Marine Energy Collision, Avoidance Pelagic Fish, Fish, Demersal Fish
Environmental Risk Evaluation System - An Approach to Ranking Risk of Ocean Energy Development on Coastal and Estuarine Environments Copping, A., Hanna, L., Van Cleve, B., Blake, K., Anderson, R. Journal Article Wind Energy, Wave, Tidal, Fixed Offshore Wind, Marine Energy Habitat Change, Displacement, Collision, Chemicals, Changes in Flow, Avoidance, Attraction Marine Mammals, Fish, Birds
Estimates of Collision Risk of Harbour Porpoises and Marine Renewable Energy Devices at Sites of High Tidal-Stream Energy Wilson, B., Benjamins, S., Elliot, J., Gordon, J., Macaulay, J., Calderan, S., van Geel, N. Report Tidal, Marine Energy Collision, Avoidance Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Simulating Blade-Strike on Fish Passing Through Marine Hydrokinetic Turbines Romero-Gomez, P., Richmond, M. Journal Article Tidal, Riverine, Marine Energy Collision Pelagic Fish, Fish, Demersal Fish
Whale To Turbine Impact Using The GPU Based SPH-LSM Method Longshaw, S., Stansby, P., Rogers, B. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
D4.17 Report on environmental monitoring protocols Magagna, D., Lauri, C., Butler, M., Bristow, C. Report Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Chemicals, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change, Noise Birds, Seabirds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals
A Review of Marine Bird Diving Behaviour: Assessing Underwater Collision Risk with Tidal Turbines Robbins, A., Thaxter, C., Cook, A., Furness, T., Daunt, F., Masden, E. Presentation Marine Energy, Tidal Avoidance, Collision Birds, Seabirds
Marine Mammals and Tidal Turbines: Understanding True Collision Risk Sparling, C., Lonergan, M., Mackey, B., Booth, C., Hastie, G., Gillespie, D., Macaulay, J. Presentation Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Using a Spatial Overlap Approach to Estimate the Risk of Collisions between Deep Diving Seabirds and Tidal Stream Turbines: A Review of Potential Methods and Approaches Waggitt, J., Scott, B. Journal Article Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Birds
A Diving Bird Collision Risk Assessment Framework for Tidal Turbines Grant, M., Trinder, M., Harding, N. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Birds
Assessment of Strike of Adult Killer Whales by an OpenHydro Tidal Turbine Blade Carlson, T., Grear, M., Copping, A., Halvorsen, M., Jepsen, R., Metzinger, K. Report Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals
Hydrokinetic Turbine Effects on Fish Swimming Behaviour Hammar, L., Andersson, S., Eggertsen, L., Haglund, J., Gullström, M., Ehnberg, J., Molander, S. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish, Demersal Fish
Examining potential effects of marine renewable energy developments on top predators Philpott, E. Thesis Marine Energy, Tidal Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Habitat Change Birds, Ecosystem Processes, Cetaceans, Physical Environment
Diving Behaviour of Black Guillemots Cepphus grylle in the Pentland Firth, UK: Potential for Interactions with Tidal Stream Energy Developments Masden, E., Foster, S., Jackson, A. Journal Article Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Birds
Who Should be Afraid of a Tidal Turbine - The Good the Bad or the Ugly? Hammar, L., Ehnberg, J. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Fish, Pelagic Fish
Potential Effects of the Interaction Between Marine Mammals and Tidal Turbines - An Engineering and Biomechanical Analysis Carlson, T., Jepsen, R., Copping, A. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Assessment of Zooplankton Injury and Mortality Associated With Underwater Turbines for Tidal Energy Production Schlezinger, D., Taylor, C., Howes, B. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Collision Ecosystem Processes
Tidal barrages in the UK: Ecological and social impacts, potential mitigation, and tools to support barrage planning Hooper, T., Austen, M. Journal Article Tidal, Marine Energy Collision Social & Economic Data, Human Dimensions, Ecosystem Processes
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