A man, a shark and a wind farm: What’s the catch?

What impact do offshore renewable developments have on marine life? Dr Damien Haberlin hopes to find out.

Marine species such as sharks, whales and sea birds are extremely vulnerable to ecosystem changes. While offshore renewable energy development is part of a positive effort towards a low-carbon future, very little is known about the potentially negative impacts this infrastructure can have on marine life.

Marine biologist Dr Damien Haberlin uses advanced sensing technologies to track sharks and other species to better understand how they are impacted by these systems.

A senior postdoctoral researcher with more than 10 years’ experience, Haberlin is based at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine (MaREI) in University College Cork (UCC).

Here, he tells us more about his research and why it’s important.

Tell us about your current research.

I am studying several elasmobranch (sharks, skates and rays) species in Ireland. The SFI-funded Tintreach project is investigating the potential impact of artificial reefs and electromagnetic fields (EMF) on sharks. The installation of offshore energy off the coast will result in an increase in hard reef forming structures and a lot of subsea cables, so we are changing the environment, and we need to understand how sensitive species will respond to those changes.

Dr Damien Haberlin sampling plankton. Image: Damien Haberlin

I also contribute to the SEAI-funded CETUS project which aims to gather important ecological data on sea birds, cetaceans and elasmobranchs, and is primarily focused on species for which we have very little knowledge at present. In our research, we are using biotelemetry to understand the ecology of elasmobranchs, which is essentially animal tracking. We use acoustic and satellite tracking systems to investigate seasonal residency, migration and fine scale behaviour around artificial reefs.

In your opinion, why is your research important?

This research is crucial to developing an offshore energy sector in a sustainable way. The ecology of many sensitive species, not least elasmobranchs, remain poorly understood and ultimately you cannot manage what you cannot understand. I would hope our research gives us a deeper understanding of elasmobranchs. More importantly, I would hope this knowledge is taken up by policymakers and industry to minimise the environmental impact of offshore development. Also, I am hopeful our research can inform evidence-based designation of marine protected areas.

What inspired you to become a researcher?

I came to be a researcher a little later than most, after returning to UCC to study zoology as a mature student. I was always fascinated by nature. My parents had a shelf full of Reader’s Digest books which I loved to read and as clichéd as it might sound, I absolutely loved to watch Jacques Cousteau exploring off the Calypso. I am not sure there was a single spark, but I spent a year in Mexico diving and surveying coral reefs, and I think it was this experience that crystalised my desire to be a researcher.

What are some of the biggest challenges or misconceptions you face as a researcher in your field?

I think the biggest challenge all researchers face is finding the funding to carry out the work we wish to do. In Ireland, as in most countries, research is contract-based and work and income can be precarious. This is a challenge personally, but also a challenge professionally as you seek to develop momentum and continuity within your own research.

I think there are some misconceptions about marine biologists. I am often asked if I spend all my time diving or out in boats. While we do both and love doing both, there is more to the job. Many of my colleagues are skilled programmers, amazing analysts and statisticians, project managers … the list goes on. Of course, when we promote a project on social media, we are not going to put up a photo of someone sitting at a laptop, so perhaps we are partly responsible for only posting the ‘cool stuff’.

Do you think public engagement with science has changed in recent years?

That is a difficult question to answer. I believe public engagement certainly increased during the pandemic, but I am not sure if we have now returned to previous levels. I wonder about the attention economy and social media now; we are packaging information in ever smaller bits and sometime the message is complex and perhaps needs more space.

We use social media to promote our projects and more traditional news media as well, although it is difficult to measure engagement and impact. There is no doubt in my mind that the best way to reach people is through face-to-face engagement where we also get to listen, rather than just posting a piece and logging off.

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