Artificial Reef or Ecological Trap

There’s not a lot of data on the underwater ecosystems developing on and under floating wind structures; there’s just not that many of these farms installed yet.

A recent study by researchers in Scottish set out to analyze what data there is and to hypothesize about what the potential positive and negative effects might be for marine life.

It’s potentially important because floating offshore wind is being developed on highly productive shelf seas. They cover approximately 9% of the global ocean area but account for around 16% of global ocean primary production and support 90% of the world’s fish catches.

Wind farm structures can create new habitats at a regional scale and throughout the water column, potentially benefiting a range of pelagic and benthic species. Studies of oil and gas platforms have found artificial reef effects that extend out around 800 meters, and floating structures are known to be used as fish aggregating devices.

Different platform designs offer different amounts of surface available for colonization, different structural complexity and different types of movement. For example, spar-buoy platforms likely provide greater surface area for colonization, while semi-submersible designs offer higher structural complexity, both of which could enhance artificial reef