Biodiversity Research Institute Issues Report Entitled 'Supporting Offshore Wind Siting in the Gulf of Maine: Marine Birds'

WASHINGTON, May 23 (TNSrep) -- The Biodiversity Research Institute, Portland, Maine, issued a 52-page report for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in March 2023 entitled "Supporting Offshore Wind Siting in the Gulf of Maine: Marine Birds."

The report was written by Julia Stepanuk, Evan Adams, Sarah Dodgin, Andrew Gilbert, Wing Goodale and Edward Jenkins.

Here are excerpts:

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Table of Contents

1 Summary ... 7

2 Introduction ... 10

3 Methods ... 11

3.1 Marine bird foraging habitat use ... 11

3.1.1 Foraging distance determination ... 11

3.1.2 Colony importance weighting ... 12

3.2 Species Vulnerability Mapping ... 13

3.3 Diving Bird Dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Modeling ... 15

3.4 Non-marine migratory birds in the GOM ... 16

3.4.1 Peregrine Falcons and Merlins ... 16

3.4.2 Great Blue Herons ... 16

3.4.3 Osprey ... 16

4 Results and Discussion ... 17

4.1 Important foraging areas for nesting marine birds ... 17

4.2 Species vulnerability in the GOM ... 18

4.3 Diving bird use of the GOM ... 19

4.4 Non-marine migratory birds in the GOM ... 19

5 Conclusions ... 20

6 References ... 48

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List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1. Foraging areas of importance for 14 species of nesting marine birds built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. ... 8

Figure 2. Weighted density analysis of population vulnerability (PV), displacement vulnerability (DV), and collision vulnerability (CV) for all marine bird species built using MDAT models. Species included any species that inhabits the Gulf of Maine region, including both species that nest and species that do not nest in this region. Areas in blue indicate lower species density of vulnerable species, and areas in red indicate higher species density of vulnerable species. ... 9

Figure 3. Atlantic Puffin foraging movements from 9 individuals tagged at Matinicus Rock, ME in summer 2022. The maximum foraging distance was 140km (87 statute miles). The Maine area of interest and research array are indicated in red. Distance from shore is indicated with black hash marks. ... 22

Figure 4. Arctic Tern foraging movements from 11 individuals tagged at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge and Eastern Egg Rock, ME in summer 2022. The maximum foraging distance was 67.5km (42 statute miles). The Maine area of interest and research array are indicated in red. Distance from shore is indicated with black hash marks. ... 23

Figure 5. Common Tern foraging movements from 10 individuals tagged at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge, Stratton Island, and Eastern Egg Rock, ME in summer 2022. The maximum foraging distance was 72km (45 statute miles). The Maine area of interest and research array are indicated in red. Distance from shore is indicated with black hash marks. ... 24

Figure 6. Leach's Storm-petrel foraging movements from 36 individuals tagged at Matinicus Rock, and Eastern Egg Rock, ME in summer 2022. The maximum foraging distance was 692km (430 statute miles). The Maine area of interest and research array are indicated in red. Distance from shore is indicated with black hash marks. ... 25

Figure 7. Common Tern post-breeding dispersal from 1 individual tagged at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge, ME in summer 2022 and subsequent migration to Cape Cod, MA. The Maine area of interest and research array are indicated in red. Distance from shore is indicated with black hash marks. ... 26

Figure 8. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Atlantic Puffins built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. The Maine Atlantic Puffin colonies are the only Atlantic Puffin colonies in the U.S., and are also listed as "threatened" by the State of Maine. ... 27

Figure 9. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Double-crested Cormorants built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. ... 28

Figure 10. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Great Cormorants built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. Great Cormorants are listed as "threatened" by the State of Maine. ... 29

Figure 11. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Herring Gulls built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. ... 30

Figure 12. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Great Black-backed Gulls built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. ... 31

Figure 13. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Arctic Terns built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. The nesting sites for Arctic Terns in the Gulf of Maine represent all Arctic Tern breeding sites in the continental U.S., and Arctic Terns are listed as "threatened" by the State of Maine. ... 32

Figure 14. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Common Eiders built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. 33 Figure 15. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Common Terns built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. ... 34

Figure 16. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Roseate Terns built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. Importantly, Roseate Terns are listed as "endangered" in the Endangered Species Act and by the State of Maine. ... 35

Figure 17. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Laughing Gulls built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. Of note, there are important nesting regions in Downeast and Midcoast Maine (particularly, Petit Manan Island, Matinicus Rock, and Eastern Egg Rock) that have a lower population than nesting sites near Cape Cod, but are still critical habitat for Laughing Gulls. ... 36

Figure 18. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Razorbills built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. The Maine Razorbill colonies are the only colonies in the U.S., and Razorbills are also listed as "threatened" by the State of Maine. ... 37

Figure 19. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Black Guillemont built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. Though there are more than 160 nesting colonies for Black Guillemonts in the Gulf of Maine, the results presented here were limited to 16 colonies for which colony count data were available. ... 38

Figure 20. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Leach's storm petrel built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. ... 39

Figure 21. Foraging areas of importance for nesting Common Murres built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts. 40 Figure 22. MDAT models weighted by population, collision, and displacement vulnerability for each season: spring, summer, fall, and winter. The Gulf of Maine RFI is indicated in orange and the preferred site for the research array is indicated in purple. ... 41

Figure 23. MDAT models weighted by population, collision, and displacement vulnerability with Surf Scoter core use (50%) and home range (95%) habitat indicated by season. The Gulf of Maine RFI is indicated in orange and the preferred site for the research array is indicated in purple. Note: the model was derived from individuals tagged in the mid-Atlantic and do not necessarily represent habitat use of individuals that reside in the Gulf of Maine region. ... 42

Figure 24. MDAT models weighted by population, collision, and displacement vulnerability with Redthroated Loon core use (50%) and home range (95%) habitat indicated by season. The Gulf of Maine RFI is indicated in orange and the preferred site for the research array is indicated in purple. Note: the model was derived from individuals tagged in the mid-Atlantic and do not necessarily represent habitat use of individuals that reside in the Gulf of Maine region. ... 43

Figure 25. MDAT models weighted by population, collision, and displacement vulnerability with Northern Gannet core use (50%) and home range (95%) habitat indicated by season. The Gulf of Maine RFI is indicated in orange and the preferred site for the research array is indicated in purple. Note: the model was derived from individuals tagged in the mid-Atlantic and do not necessarily represent habitat use of individuals that reside in the Gulf of Maine region. ... 44

Figure 26. Great Blue Heron individuals (n=9) satellite tagged between 2016 and 2020. Line colors indicate individuals and point colors indicate year of tag. Numbers indicate the month of year of location transmission (i.e. "10" represents October). Since 2016, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) has been capturing Great Blue Herons each year in Maine and tracking their migrations with solar GPS satellite transmitters. The full dataset is available in the Movebank repository (https://movebank.org/) ... 45

Figure 27. Fall migrant Peregrine Falcon and Merlin satellite tracking locations tagged at the Block Island Raptor Research Station at Block Island, Rhode Island; Monhegan Island, Maine; and Cutler, Maine. A total of 12 Merlins were tagged and 34 Peregrine Falcons were tagged. The month of transmission is indicated by the associated number for each transmission location. ... 46

Figure 28. Osprey dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Model utilization distributions for the Gulf of Maine planning area. Core habitat (red) and home range (blue shading) for Ospreys tagged between Chesapeake Bay and Northern New Hampshire. Note: no individuals were tagged in the GOM for this analysis. ... 47

Table 1. Table of foraging distance data for relevant nesting seabird species in the Gulf of Maine. The minimum, mean, maximum, and mean maximum foraging distances are reported in km. The maximum foraging distance was used for subsequent spatial analyses of foraging habitat. Cells for which data are not available are indicated by "NA". ... 21

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1 Summary

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has reconvened the Gulf of Maine Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force commercial planning process to aid in identifying potential renewable energy lease areas on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Maine (GOM). To support the State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife during the offshore wind commercial planning process, Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) conducted a desktop study and literature review to determine regions of importance for breeding and migrating marine birds in the Gulf of Maine to inform regions of higher and lower risk to marine birds. The study relied on three primary analyses: a buffer around colonial nesting marine bird islands during the breeding season based on the maximum foraging distance; a combined exposure and vulnerability assessment using regional marine bird models; and movement models of three diving bird species.

The results indicate that there is substantial variability in marine bird use across the region. More marine bird colonies are found in the Midcoast region of Maine than any other region within the Gulf of Maine and there is substantial overlap in foraging habitat among species in that region, suggesting that this region in the Gulf of Maine may be of particular importance for many nesting marine bird species. In addition, marine birds that inhabit the Gulf of Maine during all or part of the year exhibit variable exposure and vulnerability (i.e. risk) to offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine: the nearshore environment and George's Bank are regions of relatively high risk while the central Gulf of Maine, characterized by deep water basins, is an area of lower risk for birds. The results presented here are preliminary based on the data available at the time of analysis. Maps will be updated as new data become available.

The specific conclusions from the analysis are:

* Major foraging habitat for nesting marine birds, based on known colonies and foraging distances travelled, focused on Midcoast Maine, far Downeast Maine, and Cape Cod and primarily were within 64 km (40 miles) of the coast (Figure 1).

* Lower vulnerability to offshore wind development for marine birds and lower habitat use for nesting marine birds was predicted in the Central Gulf of Maine, an area associated with deeper water and muddy seafloor in the northeast (Jordan Basin) and west (Wilkinson Basin) Gulf of Maine coastlines (Figure 2).

* Higher vulnerability to offshore wind development for marine birds and higher habitat use for nesting marine birds was predicted in nearshore shallower regions and around banks and ledges (Figure 2).

* Movement modeling of birds captured in the mid-Atlantic indicate broad migratory movements through the Gulf, but that core use areas are concentrated closer to shore and near shoals.

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Figure 1: Foraging areas of importance for 14 species of nesting marine birds built using the maximum foraging distance for each species, weighted by the relative species-specific colony census counts.

Figure 2: Weighted density analysis of population vulnerability (PV), displacement vulnerability (DV), and collision vulnerability (CV) for all marine bird species built using MDAT models. Species included any species that inhabits the Gulf of Maine region, including both species that nest and species that do not nest in this region. Areas in blue indicate lower species density of vulnerable species, and areas in red indicate higher species density of vulnerable species.

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5 Conclusions

The primary conclusions that can be drawn from this analysis are as follows:

* Major foraging habitat for nesting marine birds, based on known colonies and foraging distances travelled, focused on Midcoast Maine, far Downeast Maine, and Cape Cod and primarily were within 64 km (40 miles) of the coast.

* Lower vulnerability to offshore wind development for marine birds and lower habitat use for nesting marine birds was predicted in the Central Gulf of Maine, an area associated with deeper water and muddy seafloor in the northeast (Jordan Basin) and west (Wilkinson Basin) Gulf of Maine coastlines.

* Higher vulnerability to offshore wind development for marine birds and higher habitat use for nesting marine birds was predicted in nearshore shallower regions and around banks and ledges.

* Movement modeling of birds captured in the mid-Atlantic indicate broad migratory movements through the Gulf, but that core use areas are concentrated closer to shore and near shoals.

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Suggested Citation: Stepanuk, J.; Adams, E.; Dodgin, S.; Gilbert, A.; Goodale, W.; Jenkins, E. 2022. Supporting offshore wind siting in the Gulf of Maine - Marine birds. Report to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Biodiversity Research Institute, Portland, ME. 52 pp.

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The report and figures are posted at: https://briwildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BRI-marine-bird-siting-report-for-MDIFW.pdf

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