Lobsters & Windfarms

The offshore ecosystem is increasingly important for the American lobster as a climate refuge from warming nearshore waters; yet the suitability of this habitat is threatened by escalating noise from windfarm development.

The types of noise produced by this activity—intense acoustic impulses during construction and nearly continuous operational noise—occur at the very same acoustic frequencies used by American lobster. Invertebrates, including crustaceans, are increasingly understood as sound sensitive, yet little is known about how lobster respond to anthropogenic noise. This lack of information leaves the American lobster at risk of experiencing harmful noise-induced impacts to which we are unaware and thereby unable to mitigate. To reduce this risk...