Cape Sharp Tidal has submitted the third quarter Environmental Effects Monitoring Program (EEMP) report to Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) and other regulators.
The Q3 report is part of the regular update to NS Environment and the Fisheries Protection Program (FPP) at Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) for the 2016/2017 Cape Sharp Tidal turbine deployment in the Bay of Fundy.
As reported earlier, Cape Sharp Tidal recovered its 2MW tidal turbine from the Minas Passage on June 15, 2017.
In the report, the company said the turbine retrieval provided an opportunity to recover and inspect the monitoring devices, and to conduct upgrades on the equipment.
During the retrieval, monitoring data collected during the six-month deployment was continually refined and underwent preliminary analyses, Cape Sharp Tidal said.
Early results show that porpoises were detected at the site, in the vicinity of the turbine site, during all months from November to April. The month with the most porpoise visits was March, while no other marine mammals were detected during the six month deployment, Cape Sharp Tidal said.
The Gemini data shows clear patterns in the automatically-detected activity in the data that correspond to the tidal current and water elevation, according to Cape Sharp Tidal.
The company added that development of protocols to manage, store and share monitoring data is ongoing with the objective of having a faster and easier method for the next deployment.
Also, a second study to examine high frequency sounds of turbine operation has been initiated during the reporting period spanning from May until the end of September, 2017, Cape Sharp Tidal said.
“We are using an adaptive management – or continued learning – approach to environmental monitoring and reporting. Part of this involves continuously reviewing our approach with regulators, including what information is a part of our monitoring reports and why. We will continue to revise how we approach reporting and monitoring based on feedback from regulators,” Cape Sharp Tidal said.