East Anglia ONE and TWO surveys completed

Over 35,000 ultra-high resolution images have been collected and analysed in order to count and identify the species of seabirds and marine mammals. Each one of the millions of pixels in the individual photographs is equivalent to an area of just two square centimetres on the sea surface.

APEM conducted 24 aerial surveys of the 800 MW East Anglia ONE North proposed wind farm, as well as 18 aerial surveys of the 900 MW East Anglia TWO proposed development. Six surveys of East Anglia TWO had previously been conducted by APEM in 2015-16.

The survey areas for East Anglia ONE North, located approximately 36 km offshore near Lowestoft, covered about 500 square kilometres, while the area for East Anglia TWO, located approximately 31 km offshore, covered roughly 600 square kilometres.

APEM project manager, Laura Jervis, said: “High quality digital aerial surveys are now firmly established as the leading methodology for collecting wildlife data for offshore wind farm developments.

“Like so much in the world of offshore wind energy the practices and technologies have moved on incredibly quickly. Year-on-year we have been able to deliver higher quality images and therefore more robust data for our clients to use in the consenting process, contributing to greater confidence and improved outcomes.”

The aerial digital surveys started in September 2016 and have been conducted on a monthly basis since then. The final surveys in the programme for both sites were flown in August.