Wind farm noise impacts North Sea marine mammals

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About the research

About the research

Did you know Belgium uses more of its seaspace for wind farms than any other country in the world? And it's planning to double this by 2030! But the noise from these wind farms can disrupt marine life, like the harbour porpoises in our North Sea. Bob Rumes (Institute of Natural Sciences) uses underwater microphones to research underwater noise and study the behavior of porpoises in different wind farms. This way, he wants to make recommendations to engineers and policymakers on how to build future offshore wind farms, so that porpoises can enjoy their meals at a quite underwater restaurant.

Environment
Bob Rumes
Instituut Natuurwetenschappen

For someone who hated swimming lessons as a kid, Bob Rumes spends a surprising amount of his time either in or on the water. Whether he is exploring African crater lakes to study natural climate variability for Ghent University, studying the environmental impacts of offshore wind farms, serving as scientific diver, or monitoring salamander populations in his free time. In his latest research he uses underwater acoustics to determine the impact of marine renewables on marine mammals.

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