June 2025

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June 2025 | Oceanography

activity, and fluctuations in large-scale circulation (summa­

rized in NASEM, 2024a). Furthermore, increased frequency

of mid-water salt intrusions into shelf waters has been associ­

ated with recent warming, an inshore movement of the shelf-

break front, and changes in water column structure (Harden

et  al., 2020; Gawarkiewicz et  al., 2022). Zooplankton abun­

dance and distribution follow similar trends of variability, lead­

ing to spatiotemporal fluctuations in NARW foraging habitat,

including warming-associated declines in C. finmarchicus and

Pseudocalanus spp. (Record et al., 2019).

Given the significant uncertainty outlined here, the initial

question really should be how do we determine if OSW will

affect zooplankton and NARW in the Nantucket Shoals region?

Luckily, as Hoffman et al. (2025, in this issue) indicate, the com­

munity now has some guidance through the recently released

workshop proceedings, Nantucket Shoals Wind Farm Field

Monitoring Program (NASEM, 2024b). Isolating OSW impacts

from natural variability will require monitoring and model­

ing studies designed to target specific impacts at relevant scales

with sufficient resolution. Localized field efforts should sam­

ple along a gradient inside and outside OSW fields or include

“control” areas outside of OSW areas, before, during, and

after construction. Monitoring should also include simultane­

ous physical and biological observations at both the turbine

and wind farm area scale as well as repetition during variable

oceanographic conditions.

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AUTHOR

Grace K. Saba (saba@marine.rutgers.edu), Department of Marine and Coastal

Sciences and Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, Rutgers University,

New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

ARTICLE CITATION

Saba, G.K. 2025. Zooplankton and offshore wind: Drifters in a sea of uncertainty.

Oceanography 38(2):7–9, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2025.302.

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