The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, Shawn M. LaTourette, and New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President, Christine Guhl-Sadovy, have announced the award of nearly $3.7 million in funding for scientific research projects aimed at ensuring ecologically responsible development of offshore wind energy.
Projects newly funded through the state’s ongoing Research and Monitoring Initiative (RMI) include an aerial survey of whales, a whale satellite-tagging study, a study of seasonal water-mixing dynamics, the expansion of an existing tracking system for birds and bats, and a study focused on sea turtle behaviour and health.
Project details:
- Rutgers University has been awarded $97,462 to study the effects of offshore wind turbines on the Mid-Atlantic cold pool, an oceanographic feature crucial to marine ecosystems. The study will use analytical models and environmental data collected by RMI-funded Slocum undersea gliders.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries has been awarded $47,383 to extend seasonal aerial whale surveys in the coastal region off northern New Jersey.
- Rutgers University has been awarded $929,593 to evaluate the movements and habitat use of humpback and fin whales in and around New Jersey offshore wind lease areas.
- The American Bird Conservancy has been awarded $1.3 million to expand a regional network tracking the movements of radio-tagged birds and bats.
- The Coonamessett Farm Foundation has been awarded $1.03 million to evaluate baseline preconstruction migration routes of sea turtles.
