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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