Exploring preliminary findings of a fixed nearshore wind farm, during operational phase, on the distribution of Tursiops truncatus and Stenella coeruleoalba in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)

This study provides insights on the potential interference between the first fixed coastal wind farm in the Mediterranean and the distribution of two cetacean species, Tursiops truncatus and Stenella coeruleoalba, during its operational phase. Specifically, a preliminary observations on the responses of the striped and the common bottlenose dolphins to the presence of a nearshore wind farm (Northern Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea), were carried out through the application of regression-based modelling approaches. GLMs and GAMs were applied to long-term visual survey data to investigate the potential variation of encounter rates of both species in relation to environmental predictors and a proxy of potential acoustic disturbance of the wind farm in a pre- and post-installation period. No statistically significant differences between periods were detected for either species, while spatial gradients, particularly depth and latitude, emerged as the primary drivers of distribution patterns. These preliminary results offer early empirical evidence in the Mediterranean context and suggest the importance of species-specific monitoring frameworks to identify potential positive and negative OWF effects on cetaceans as key species in the marine ecosystems.