2388fd70-e7cf-4e19-8f44-6d5f30db8b2e eng series ABP Marine Environmental Research 02380711840 Quayside Suite, Medina Chambers, Town Quay Southampton SO14 2AQ United Kingdom enquiries@abpmer.co.uk http://www.abpmer.co.uk pointOfContact 2015-11-11 MEDIN Discovery Profile 2.3.8 urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::32630 2012, Kongsberg, Lewis Wave Farm, Underwater Noise Impact Study 2012-01-31 publication 250121 Lewis Wave Power has an Agreement for Lease (AfL) from The Crown Estate on a region of the seabed off the north-west coast of Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides in order to develop a wave farm using Aquamarine Power’s Oyster wave power technology. The latest generation device is the Oyster 800 which is in the process of being installed for performance assessment at the EMEC range, Billia Croo, Orkney. On satisfactory completion of the testing phase at Billia Croo, it is proposed to install up to 50 such wave devices off the Isle of Lewis. As part of the consenting process mandated by the regulatory authorities, it is necessary for the developer to produce an Environmental Impact Assessment including any specialist technical studies. As a consequence of this requirement, this report, prepared by Kongsberg Maritime Ltd for Aquamarine Power Ltd, provides an assessment of the impact of underwater sound on marine life found in the Lewis Wave Power development area. Subsequently acoustic modelling was undertaken using a suite of computer programs to investigate the underwater noise propagating along a set of transects radiating from the Lewis Wave Power Development area. The programs themselves are based on mature and rigorous scientific methodologies that have been reviewed extensively in the international literature over a number of years. It is considered of fundamental importance that acoustic modelling is not based on “in-house” solutions using non peer-reviewed techniques as this could compromise the developer in the event that the environmental impact assessment documents become subject to scrutiny. Aquamarine Power info@aquamarinepower.com distributor Konsberg Maritime LImited waterlooville.uk@konsberg.com www.km.konsberg.com originator Crown Estate Scotland 0131 260 6070 Quartermile Two, 2nd Floor, 2 Lister Square Edinburgh EH3 9GL enquiries@crownestatescotland.com custodian notPlanned Consenting The Crown Estate Renewable Energy Development Phases 2012-05-15 revision 1 Agreement for Lease Area The Crown Estate Renewable Energy Development Areas 2012-05-15 revision 1 Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Acoustic noise in the water column http://marinedataexchange.co.uk/pages/terms-of-use.aspx copyright otherRestrictions copyright otherRestrictions http://marinedataexchange.co.uk/pages/terms-of-use.aspx http://marinedataexchange.co.uk/pages/terms-of-use.aspx eng environment society -6.762 -6.273 58.314 58.51 2012 2012-01-31 inapplicable inapplicable https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/details/CES-205/summary A link to the web service or dataset. https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk A link to the general host site. series Using a simple model to represent the transit of an animal through the proposed Lewis Wave Power Development area, the Sound Exposure Level (SEL) metric was used to determine the build-up of acoustic dose when an animal is exposed to a single source over a period of time. It was found that neither permanent nor temporary hearing damage (Permanent Threshold Shift (PTS) or Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS)) would be likely to arise on cetaceans or pinnipeds. No impact criteria using this metric were available for fish and invertebrates. Aversive behaviour could arise on the harbour porpoise after an exposure duration of 70 seconds. The cumulative impact of adjacent multiple sources was determined for a number of indicative installation and operation scenarios. It was found that even when a total of 50 WECs are in operation at the end of year 4, for marine mammals, neither the Level B – Harassment nor the Low Level Behavioural impact criteria are exceeded. When installation noise is included it was found that the Low Level Behavioural impact criterion was met at a distance of 1 m from the installation site. When determining impacts from multiple sources based on weighted criteria, specifically the dBht, it was found that Strong Avoidance and Mild Avoidance are unlikely to arise in any of the target species considered, while the Mild Avoidance criterion is met only for odontocetes and mysticetes over distances varying between 60 m and 300 m. Using the SEL metric, it was found that neither PTS nor TTS would arise in any of the marine mammal groupings when exposed to operational noise from multiple Oyster WECs. Aversive Behavioural reactions are likely to be seen in the harbour porpoise after an exposure duration of 8 seconds when exposed to the noise arising from each of the operation and installation scenarios considered.