The Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC) today issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) that will allocate approximately $1.2 million for passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) for marine mammals along the U.S. East Coast.
The objective of this RFP is to select an eligible contractor to conduct marine mammal PAM fieldwork, data management, and analysis according to a defined scope of work in support of the Partnership for an Offshore Wind Energy Regional Observation Network (POWERON). The selected contractor will work with equipment procured by RWSC and collaborate with the RWSC management team to establish and implement protocols for PAM data collection, management, and analysis.
The full RFP and all materials can be downloaded here.
Proposal materials will be accepted through RWSC’s Proposal Submission Platform (https://proposals.rwsc.org).
Through POWERON, several offshore wind lessees that have secured federal permits are making annual contributions to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to have their PAM requirements fulfilled. POWERON contributions cover the cost of instrumentation, vessel time, data processing, analysis, and archiving. POWERON is designed to maximize the quality and consistency of marine species long-term monitoring data by pooling resources among partners, processing data in a consistent manner, openly sharing information, and contributing to the growing body of scientific knowledge on the marine environment. Late last year, BOEM announced a strategic partnership with RWSC to implement the POWERON program.
It is expected that over time, these data collected as part of POWERON will contribute to a characterization of trends in the soundscape of the Atlantic OCS and understanding of whether spatial-temporal distribution of baleen whales in and around offshore wind development areas are affected by offshore wind operations. The Integrated Science Plan for Offshore Wind, Wildlife, and Habitats in U.S. Atlantic Waters (Science Plan)—which was collaboratively developed by government agencies, industry, nonprofits, and the research community—called for increased acoustic monitoring in the study area to:
While up to $1.2M is available to support 18 months of monitoring through this RFP, RWSC expects to make additional funds available in subsequent years. RWSC will continue to leverage the expertise of the Marine Mammal Subcommittee and other regional experts to guide the implementation of the POWERON program.
Additional background
RWSC issued a second RFP today, requesting regional scale studies and analyses of any impacts from offshore wind infrastructure (e.g., foundations in the water, turbines in air) on bird and bat activity, the distribution and behavior of marine mammals, and the processes in ocean habitats upon which these species depend. RWSC will ensure that the activities eventually funded via both RFPs are coordinated and maximize benefits to decision makers and scientists studying offshore wind, wildlife, and marine ecosystems. Download the Regional RFP here.
Interested parties are encouraged to sign up for email notifications about this and other RWSC updates via the RWSC website. All are welcome to join future Subcommittee meetings via the RWSC Events page.
RWSC is co-hosted by the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO). RWSC’s annual work plan is funded by financial contributions and in-kind support from NROC, MARCO, government agencies, offshore wind companies, and environmental nonprofits. NROC and MARCO are the two Regional Ocean Partnerships on the U.S. Atlantic coast and are federally authorized to promote coordination among various government agencies and collaboration related to shared priorities, thereby reducing duplication of efforts, and maximizing opportunities to leverage support.