The Nature of Scotland

Productive seas
Scotland’s seas are highly
productive and diverse, supporting
over 8,000 different species and
30% of Europe’s breeding seabirds.
They also create huge wind, tidal
and wave energy resources. The
connection between our renewable
energy resources and the fertility of
our seas lies in Scotland’s unique
geography.
The vast ice sheets that covered
Scotland during the last ice age
carved a highly indented coastline
leaving deep lochs and over 800
islands. This gives Scotland a
coastline some 11,800 km long, as
well as some of the strongest and
most complex tides in the world.
Water flowing between the islands
and around the headlands restricts
the flow of water. This creates fierce
tidal currents and concentrates
fish into distinct areas, producing
important feeding grounds for
seabirds and marine mammals.
Scotland lies on the edge of the
European continental shelf, bearing
the brunt of the Atlantic swell and
winds that blow over thousands of
miles of ocean. Winds and waves
can be harnessed to produce
renewable energy, but Scotland
also sees the benefits in the
nutrients that are brought up from
the deep ocean and in the mixing of
the waters by waves.
To accommodate this pace, we need new approaches for
looking at the effects of renewable devices on marine wildlife
and habitats. Marine Scotland are developing an approach
where one or a few renewable devices are installed, and the
effects on the marine environment and wildlife are closely
monitored before the number of devices is expanded, or
larger numbers are built elsewhere. Information gathered
from this phased approach with early installations will help
us make better informed decisions on how future devices
should be developed and located.
Many areas with strong tides are also among Scotland’s
richest areas for marine life. This is the case in the seas
around Orkney, where large numbers of seabirds and marine
mammals feast on the plentiful marine life of the islands.
“Orkney has a number of highly important protected
sites because of the scale of the bird colonies,” explains
George. “We have to speak to the developers during the
planning process in Orkney so that we make sure the health
of these sites is maintained. And in locations where several
renewable devices are planned for the same area, then
we have to consider the potential for additional effects on
marine wildlife.”
Sound signatures
Once Caroline Carter has gathered information on the
soundscape in tidal areas, she’s hoping to work with the
marine renewables companies to find ‘sound signatures’ for
their devices. She plans to use these, and her own data, to
check whether marine mammals will be able to hear tidal
stream generators. “The developers will also be doing a lot
of their own monitoring and research around the devices,
which could offer important insights if the results are shared,”
she says.
Marine developers will need to carry out rigorous
monitoring when they put devices in place and will have to
provide the results to Marine Scotland and SNH. “We’re
looking for ways to encourage companies to share their
data without affecting their need to keep some things
confidential,” George Lees commented.
Back on Loch Creran, Caroline is talking me through
the huge variety of marine devices that are currently being
planned, developed and tested. “No-one knows which will
be successful in commercial terms and each could have a
different effect on the marine environment,” she says. “Some
marine devices could even have unexpected positive effects
for marine wildlife by providing an artificial reef for creatures
that would otherwise have nothing suitable to live on,” says
Caroline. “There are so many unknowns. But that’s what
makes it exciting.”
3
Serpulid reef in Loch
Creran. These are the
best developed reefs
of their kind in the
world. They’re a haven
for other marine
wildlife.
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