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.