New Aberdeen study finds seabirds steer clear of turbine blades

Using AI supported by extensive manual inspection, the research ana-lysed video footage from 19 months of continuous monitoring of one of the Aberdeen turbines, between June 2023 and December 2024. The equipment captured around 95% of daylight hours and recorded 2007 bird flight paths near the monitored turbine.

Five flight paths were initially identified as potential collisions. However, after review, none were found to involve an actual collision. In most cases, the birds were well away from the turbine or displaying natural behaviours such as diving for food.

This monitoring suggests that the wind farm is having a far smaller impact on seabirds than originally predicted before it was built in 2018, which is encouraging for seabirds living alongside wind farms.

The evidence will help inform construction of future offshore wind projects by giving developers and regulators greater confidence that turbines can operate with a lower impact on seabirds and make environmental assessments more accurate.

These findings also align with results from previous radar, camera and GPS tracking work at Aberdeen, which show that seabirds typically avoid turbines at distances of 100 – 200 m. This natural avoidance behaviour is now understood to play a major role in keeping collision rates low.

Dr Eva Julius-Philipp, Director of Environment and Sustainability at Business Area Wind at Vattenfall, said: “This study adds to a growing body of evidence showing how seabirds can avoid offshore wind turbines. The findings from Aberdeen Bay demonstrate that modern offshore wind farms can be operated with low risk to wildlife, especially when supported by robust, real-world monitoring. We remain committed to using the best available science and evidence to protect the natural environment while delivering low-carbon electricity.”

Ask Helseth, CEO and Co-founder of Spoor, added: “This study demonstrates the value of long-duration, real-world monitoring in understanding how seabirds interact with offshore wind infrastructure. By combining AI-supported detection with detailed expert review, we can move beyond assumptions and measure actual behaviour at turbine scale.

“The results from Aberdeen provide important evidence that avoidance behaviour plays a significant role in reducing collision risk, and they show how modern monitoring approaches can support more accurate environmental assessments for future projects.”

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