The nearshore hardbottom habitat near Sebastian Inlet supports a diversity of green, red, and brown algae species as well as large wormrock formations. This photo was taken in the shallow waters near the McLarty Treasure Museum Beach. Photo CSA Ocean Sciences Inc.

A beach nourishment project that will include dredging at the Sebastian Inlet in Indian River County Florida is planned to begin in January 2019. CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) has been conducting biological monitoring of the nearshore hardbottom community along the planned fill area for over a decade. Most recently, we performed a pre-construction biological monitoring survey in the summer of 2018 to assess the current conditions and allow comparison to post-construction conditions after the beach nourishment activities are completed in 2019. CSA will continue their long-term monitoring of the nearshore hardbottom community for the next 5 years to ensure that any impacts to the natural resources from the dredging project are quantified.

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Last month, CSA’s marine mammal and ocean sound director Mary Jo Barkaszi attended the New York State Energy Research and Development (NYSERDA) State of the Science for Offshore Wind workshop held in Long Island, NY, hosted by the Biodiversity Research Institute. The workshop engaged state and federal agencies, offshore wind developers, fisheries, researchers, and consultants in an intensive summary of what is currently known about environmental concerns surrounding offshore wind development. The workshop highlighted several large-scale projects funded by NYSERDA in cooperation with federal agencies as well as case studies from Europe which leveraged 20+ years of experience in offshore wind to the emerging development in US waters. NYSERDA has been a leader in promoting both science and development in the offshore wind market. The timing of the workshop was ideal given the recent surge in state commitments to power purchase agreements for offshore wind and hugely successful lease sales for wind areas off the eastern seaboard. In response to the workshop attendance, Barkaszi commented, “Clearly, the offshore wind industry is here to stay, and it is an incredibly exciting time to be working with such a progressive industry that will play a large role in clean energy and energy independence.” CSA currently supports several offshore wind projects through and continues to develop capacity in that marketplace. Notably, our recent opening of a New England office will be key in supporting the US offshore wind market for what appears to be many years to come. For more information about the workshop, please visit: www.briloon.org/offshorewindny-workshop. For more information about CSA’s capabilities regarding offshore wind, please visit our website at www.csaocean.com.