An Adaptive Framework for Selecting Environmental Monitoring Protocols to Support Ocean Renewable Energy Development

Table 12

Component decision tree for impacts on marine mammals. The key is followed to obtain a recommended suite of monitoring protocols.

Determine which impacts to marine mammals need to be monitored:
The energy resource is
Wind	Go to A
Tidal	Go to B
Waves	Go to C
(A) The stage of the wind energy project is
Construction	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
Operation	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
Decommissioning	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
(B) The stage of the tidal energy project is
Construction	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
Operation	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
Decommissioning	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
(C) The stage of the wave energy project is
Construction	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
Operation	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
Decommissioning	W1, W2, W3, W4, W5

Recommended protocols:
W1: visual surveys.
W2: passive acoustic monitoring.
W3: marine mammal observers.
W4: stranding response networks.
W5: tagging.
W6/7: underwater photography.
W8: SCUBA surveys.
W9: ROV surveys.