A benthic survey campaign is being undertaken off the coast of north Co Dublin, Co Meath and Co Louth for the North Irish Sea Array (NISA) offshore wind farm.
Scheduled to begin yesterday, Wednesday 29 September and continue to next Thursday 7 October, the campaign will involve the deployment of benthic grab and drop-down video equipment from a survey vessel within the bounds of the proposed NISA wind farm.
This area forms an irregular, approximately rectangular shape, spanning 31km north-south and 14km east-west at its widest point. At its closest location, near Rush in Co Dublin, the survey site is 7.4km from the coastline.
The survey is being conducted by the survey vessel Husky (callsign 2EQI7). As this vessel is restricted in its ability to manoeuvre when surveying, due to the deployment of the grab sampler from the deck of the vessel for the duration of the drop and recovery, other vessels are requested to keep a wide berth.
An onboard fisheries liaison officer is aboard the vessel throughout the duration of the survey campaign.
Further information, including co-ordinates of the survey area and contact details, can be found in Marine Notice No 52 of 2021, which can be downloaded below.
