Are bird fatalities ignored/estimated/tracked at ocean-based windfarms?

Question

Bird fatalities have become an obvious downside at land-based wind farms. The bird corpses can be counted if the windfarm owner permits it. But at a marine windfarm, I imagine the dead birds would either sink or be gobbled up by aquatic scavengers, leaving no evidence.

I like the idea of green power, but I worry about unintended consequences, especially if we have no way to measure the extent of the problem.

Answer 1

This is an outstanding question and one that I too have contemplated as I consider installing a wind turbine. Fortunately, birds and bats are 10,000 times more likely to be killed by high rise buildings and domestic animals than wind; however, if windmills are located in the wrong area there can be damage. Interestingly, The National Audubon Society recently issued a position paper in support of wind power by asserting the benefits of wind far outweigh the negative features, and the American Wind Energy Association is working with environmental groups to study and design wind systems that mitigate damage.

Answer 2

There likely are statistics on such things. There's bound to be a governmental agency (EPA perhaps?) that tracks this; there's an agency that tracks just about anything imaginable.

There will always be unforeseen consequences to anything humans do. The best we can try for is to limit our impact on the environment. While birds may be killed by the windfarms it's far less intrusive and destructive to the environment than say a coal plant is. Eventually the birds will learn to avoid the windfarm as part of their evolutionary adaptation. Those who can't adapt to a changing environment die, those who do survive to reproduce and the problem is solved.

Answer 3

Numbers of migatory birds at various nature reserves are counted every year and an estimate is then made, the birds would learn to avoid such places.