Page 1 - Birds vs. Blades?: Offshore Wind Power and the Race to Protect Seabirds
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REBECCA E. HIRSCH, PH.D., It’s a chilly winter evening. A NORTHERN GANNET lets HIRSCH
is the award-winning author of numerous out a loud GRAAAK. Swiftly and carefully, a scientist scoops
books about science, nature, and the bird off the surface of the water into a net so that a team
geography for children. A former plant of experts can implant a high-tech tag. Scientists will track this
biologist and molecular biologist, she lives seabird—and many others—to learn its movement patterns over
with her husband and three children in the following years. BIRDS VS. BLADES?
State College, Pennsylvania. You can visit
her online at www.rebeccahirsch.com. Find out how scientists are scrambling to make sure ON A RAINY MARCH EVENING,
CLEAN, RENEWABLE OFFSHORE WIND POWER three scientists climb aboard a small boat
won’t spell disaster for the millions of seabirds that serve a and head out onto the Chesapeake Bay.
critical role in the ocean food web. Their mission: to sneak up on seabirds
sleeping on the water’s surface, safely
capture them, and bring them to shore so
a team of veterinarians can implant high-
tech tags. After surgery, the birds will
be released, and the scientists will track
their movements.
What makes this research so important?
Wind farms are coming to the Atlantic
Ocean. These farms will be able to turn
wind into much-needed clean, renewable
energy. Yet the Atlantic coast is also a
migration corridor for millions of birds
that are an essential part of the ocean
food chain.
Find out how scientists are getting up
close and personal with several bird
Front cover: © iStockphoto.com/Kneonlight (bird in flight);
OFFSHORE WIND POWER AND THE RACE TO PROTECT SEABIRDS
© iStockphoto.com/HoleInTheBucket (wind turbines). species to answer a critical question: can
Back cover: © iStockphoto.com/Thomas-Mertens.
we harvest clean wind energy without
harming seabirds?
j MILLBROOK PRESS
REBECCA E. HIRSCH
A DIVISION OF LERNER PUBLISHING GROUP MILLBROOK
241 FIRST AVENUE NORTH • MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55401
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j REINFORCED BINDING
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