U.S. Geological Survey is carrying out a four-year study of seabird and marine mammal populations off central and southern California on behalf of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which received expressions of interest for wind and wave energy projects in these areas.
The objectives of the USD 2 million study, which started in 2017 and will run until 2021, are to update BOEM’s understanding of the status and distribution of seabirds and marine mammals in areas off the coast of central and southern California where renewable energy projects may be proposed, as well as to relate this new information to that collected by other surveys on this portion of the Pacific OCS over the last 40 years.
Seasonal aerial surveys will be conducted over a period of two to three years, and are designed to match those flown in the previous studies along historical transect lines between Cambria and the U.S-Mexico border. In addition, finer-scale focal sites are established and surveyed in areas where there is a higher potential of renewable energy project development, including the Santa Rosa Flats, offshore of Morro Bay, offshore of Vandenberg Air Force Base, the western Santa Barbara Channel, and any other areas identified by BOEM.
The surveys would characterise the current diversity, distribution, and abundance of seabirds and marine mammals within the study area at a scale that is useful for assessment of renewable energy proposals. Survey methodologies used in previous studies would be reviewed and modified, as necessary, to account for new technologies and equipment availability. Previously collected data would be assessed and analysed to allow for comparisons with the newly collected data to identify changes in distribution and abundance of seabirds over the last 40 years.
Source: BOEM