Sound Levels Recorded at Wind Farm Site
Rhonda Moniz
November 27, 2012
Federal officials are studying variable impacts posed by the construction of the nation’s first offshore wind farm off Nantucket, Massachusetts. Studies include fish stocks, water and air quality, airplane and boat navigation, migrating birds and whales, and electric magnetic fields. One major component that needs further study is sound. Two scientists from Woods hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is turning their attention to the impacts from the sound made by the wind farm. Sound travels faster and further through water than air. Many animals use sound to perceive their environment. Sounds made by humans influence animals, and loud sounds have a detrimental effect. In March WHOI biologists began recording a 25-square-mile area between Nantucket and Cape Cod.