86c7e8fa-dfd5-412f-ba71-58101c9296a0 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 2015-10-08 MEDIN Discovery Profile 2.3.8 EPSG: 4326 2013-2014, Caloo Ecological Services, NRP, Buchan Deep, ESAS Seabird and Marine Mammal Surveys 2014-12-01 publication 2015-03-31 publication BD_5 The Technical Report within this series is concerned with the environmental studies undertaken to inform the EIA and HRA of seabirds and marine mammals for the proposed Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Project, a demonstration floating offshore windfarm being progressed by Hywind Scotland Limited (HSL). The report presents results for the one-year programme of boat-based baseline European Seabirds at Sea (ESAS) surveys together with relevant context information on regularly occurring species.  The Survey Area covers 170.5 km2 and comprises the original Exclusivity Area buffered to 3 km. This area is covered by 23 parallel transects spaced 0.75 km apart and with a total length of 228 km. Surveys of all 23 transects took two days to complete, with alternate transects surveyed on one day and the other set of alternates on the other day. This regime meant that on each survey day the whole Survey Area was covered.  The surveys were conducted following the ESAS method. This involves a team of two accredited surveyors on board a survey vessel collecting data on all birds and marine mammals seen in a 300 m wider survey corridor in a format that is suitable for distance sampling analysis.  Two survey days of effort (i.e. surveying each transect once) were scheduled at monthly intervals from June 2013 to May 2014. A total of 20 surveys (days) were undertaken over the year. Eight additional surveys were undertaken between July and September 2014 using the same survey design and methods. These surveys are reported separately (Caloo 2014c (Annex 3 to Technical Report) however the results are used as additional evidence to characterise the ornithology of the Survey Area. Statistical analyses of the seabird data were undertaken by Caloo Ecological Services. These analyses are provided as Annexes to this Technical Report:  Annex 1 - Caloo 2014a. Distance sampling analyses of year 1 ESAS survey results for the Hywind Scotland Pilot Park;  Annex 2 - Caloo 2014b. Collision risk modelling with respect to seabirds for the Hywind Scotland Pilot Park;  Annex 3 - Caloo 2014c. Distance sampling analyses of additional (July – September 2014) ESAS survey results for the Hywind Scotland Pilot Park. In addition to the analyses presented in the above reports, Marine Scotland, SNH and JNCC requested some alternative analyses of the survey data based on the breeding seasons specified by SNH / JNCC. These analyses have been reported in the following standalone report:  Caloo 2014d. Alternative density, abundance and collision risk mortality estimates based upon breeding seasons as specified by SNH/JNCC for seabirds using the waters of the Buchan Deep off the Aberdeenshire coast for the period June 2013 to May 2014 in support of the Hywind Scotland Pilot Park project. Substantial detail on data analysis and results is provided in these four reports, the essence of which is presented throughout the EIA. Where relevant, cross-references to tables have been used to aid the reader’s interpretation of the assessment and underlying analytical output. Statoil +44 (0) 203 204 3200 +44 (0) 203 204 3600 One Kingdom Street London W2 6BD United Kingdom info@statoil.com http://www.statoil.com/en/Pages/default.aspx distributor Natural Research Projects Ltd 08449060200 info@natural-research.org originator Caloo Ecological Services 01856852814 caloo.ecological.services@phonecoop.coop originator Crown Estate Scotland 0131 260 6070 Quartermile Two, 2nd Floor, 2 Lister Square Edinburgh EH3 9GL enquiries@crownestatescotland.com custodian notPlanned .pdf Agreement for Lease Area The Crown Estate Renewable Energy Development Areas 2012-05-15 revision 1 Consenting The Crown Estate Renewable Energy Development Phases 2012-05-15 revision 1 Bird counts Bird behaviour Cetacean abundance SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary 2015-09-09 revision 89 Marine Birds Marine Mammals Global Change Master Directory Science Keyword variables 2007-04-18 revision 4 seabirds collisions Marisaurus Thesaurus 2010-09-22 revision 28 Marine Biodiversity MEDIN Parameter Discipline Keywords 2012-06-09 revision 3 Marine Environmental Data and Information Network Marine Environmental Data and Information Network http://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/pages/terms-of-use.aspx copyright copyright http://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/pages/terms-of-use.aspx http://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/pages/terms-of-use.aspx eng biota oceans -1.5710164 -1.1812238 57.4107193 57.5657633 2013-06-08 2014-09-11 Spreadsheet inapplicable https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk/details/CES-82/summary A link to the web service or dataset. https://www.marinedataexchange.co.uk A link to the general host site. series The assessment of impacts, including displacement and collision risk mortality is based upon density and abundance estimates calculated for seasons specific to each species. The seasons used for each species were defined on the basis of the scientific literature, tempered by any seasonal patterns apparent in the survey data so as to reflect the biology of the species concerned on this particular site. Thus the seasons used are both species and site specific. For each species, Table 2 in NRP (2014) defines the seasons used whilst Table X presents the reasoning and supporting evidence.