June 2025

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Oceanography | Vol. 38, No. 2

38

the ecology of the region. The Committee on Evaluation of

Hydrodynamic Modeling and Implications for Offshore Wind

Development: Nantucket Shoals was convened in June 2023.

This summary provides the findings and recommendations from

the resulting Consensus Study Report (NASEM, 2024a) as well

as from a subsequent BOEM-sponsored workshop (NASEM,

2024b). The accompanying Perspectives by Gawarkiewicz

(2025) and Saba (2025) provide additional insights about off­

shore wind energy development in the Nantucket Shoals region.

Evaluation of the understanding of potential hydrodynamic

effects of offshore wind farms, based on observations and model­

ing studies for wind installations in European waters, shows that

offshore wind turbines can alter local hydrodynamics by inter­

rupting circulation processes through a wake effect and induce

turbulence in the water column surrounding and downstream

of the turbine (Figure 1d; e.g., Schultze et al., 2020). Wind speed

reduction occurs downstream of the turbines, but its effects on

the sea surface are poorly understood (Golbazi et  al., 2022).

These effects become more complex when extended to arrays

of turbines in an offshore wind farm or multiple adjacent wind

farms with implications for both local and regional circulation.

Evaluation of these complex interactions with hydrodynamic

models requires that key processes be included at appropri­

ate spatial and temporal scales. The limited studies to date sug­

gest that the hydrodynamic effects of turbines will be difficult

to isolate from the much larger variability introduced by natu­

ral and other anthropogenic sources (including climate change;

Schultze et al., 2020; Floeter et al., 2017, 2022). These findings

support two recommendations for observations and modeling

studies for assessing the hydrodynamic impacts of offshore wind

energy installations in US continental shelf waters:

• RECOMMENDATION. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage­

ment, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and

others should promote, and where possible require, observa­

tional studies during all phases of wind energy development—​

surveying, construction, operation, and decommission­

ing—​that target processes at the relevant turbine-​to-​wind

farm scales to isolate, quantify, and characterize their hydro­

dynamic effects. Studies at Block Island, Dominion, Vineyard

Wind I, and South Fork Wind should be considered as case

study sites given their varying numbers of turbines, types of

foundations, and sizes and spacing of turbines.

• RECOMMENDATION. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage­

ment, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration,

and others should require model validation studies to deter­

mine the capability and appropriateness of a particular model

to simulate key baseline hydrodynamic processes relevant at

turbine, wind farm, and/or regional scales.

The ecological impacts of offshore wind structures can poten­

tially affect all trophic levels (Figure 1d), and changes in zoo­

plankton production, supply, and aggregation may affect right

whales that have been frequently observed feeding in the

Nantucket Shoals region and other areas of high productivity in

Southern New England waters.

Evaluation of the potential impacts on right whale prey show

that the paucity of observations and the uncertainty of mod­

eled hydrodynamic effects make it difficult to assess the eco­

logical impacts of offshore wind farms, particularly considering

the scale of both natural and human-caused variability in the

Nantucket Shoals region. Studies to date do not have the spatial

and temporal coverage at the proposed wind energy lease sites to

adequately capture broad-scale right whale use of this region and

potential impacts from offshore wind farms. Additionally, forag­

ing by right whales in the region is not fully understood, includ­

ing the basic question of which zooplankton taxa right whales

are feeding on and how this prey changes seasonally. Models are

needed that can effectively incorporate the supply and behavior

of zooplankton as well as the physical oceanographic processes

that aggregate zooplankton in the Nantucket Shoals region.

The impacts of offshore wind projects on the right whale and

the availability of its prey in the Nantucket Shoals region will

likely be difficult to distinguish from the significant impacts of

climate change and other influences on the ecosystem. As plan­

ning and construction of wind farms in the Nantucket Shoals

region continue, further study and monitoring of the oceanog­

raphy and ecology of the area are needed to fully understand

the impact of future wind farms. Advancing understanding of

potential impacts is especially important as right whale use of

the region continues to evolve (e.g., O’Brien et al., 2022).

These findings support two recommendations for observa­

tions and modeling studies for assessing the ecological impacts

of offshore wind energy installations:

• RECOMMENDATION. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage­

ment, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and

others should support, and where possible require, the collec­

tion of oceanographic and ecological observations through

robust integrated monitoring programs within the Nantucket

Shoals region and in the region surrounding wind energy

areas before and during all phases of wind energy develop­

ment: surveying, construction, operation, and decommis­

sioning. This is especially important as right whale use of the

Nantucket Shoals region continues to evolve due to oceano­

graphic changes and/or the activities and conditions relevant

to offshore wind farms.

• RECOMMENDATION. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage­

ment, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, and

others should support, and where possible require, ocean­

ographic and ecological modeling of the Nantucket Shoals

region before and during all phases of wind energy develop­

ment: surveying, construction, operation, and decommission­

ing. This critical information will help guide regional policies

that protect right whales and improve predictions of ecologi­

cal impacts from wind development at other lease sites.

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