Screening Analysis for the Environmental Risk Evaluation System

The endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) annually return to the inland marine waters of Washington (US) and British Columbia (CAN) to forage for their preferred prey of Chinook salmon. SRKW behavior has been parsed into four categories: foraging, socializing, resting, and traveling. Characteristics that include dive depth, dive frequency, directional or nondirectional movement, and swimming define each behavior. SRKW are known to make dives deeper than 50m while foraging, although they spend the majority of their time in the upper 30m of the water column. Due to this diving behavior, the SRKW may be at risk for interactions with the planned installation of tidal turbines in Admiralty Inlet, WA. The tidal turbines will sit on the seafloor, at approximately 60m deep, and use the energy in the movement of water from tidal changes to generate electricity. These devices do not cause the degree of environmental impact of conventional hydropower, and still hold the other benefits of reliable, clean energy generation. SRKW are listed under the Endangered Species Act and their safety post-installation of the tidal turbines must be assessed. Since there is little information that can be used to predict the risk of SRKW interaction due to difficulties associated with data collection, a conceptual behavioral model was developed to describe SRKW diving behavior and to quantify the frequency of dives in Admiralty Inlet to 50m. While there was insufficient data to parameterize the necessary variables quantitatively, the conceptual model has specified areas for future research so that a mathematical behavioral model can be created in the future. Introduction Emerging as an alternative energy source, marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) devices use the energy in waves and tides to generate electricity. The Snohomish Public Utilities District No. 1 (SnoPUD) wishes to install two OpenHydro tidal energy conversion turbines at a depth of approximately 60m in Admiralty Inlet at the mouth of Puget Sound as part of their energy source diversification [1]. Admiralty Inlet experiences mixed semidiurnal tides—where water flows in and out of the Sound as the tide shifts between two daily highs and low tides that can be used to generate electricity with bi-directional turbines [2]. Even though the turbine installation is likely to not cause significant environmental changes, like those associated with hydroelectric dams, there is concern that the turbines’ presence might affect marine populations including the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) (Wood, Tollit et al. 2009). Admiralty Inlet provides the only access to Puget Sound for the SRKW and potential risks to the transiting SRKW from the installation of tidal turbines must be evaluated.

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