Study Reveals How Offshore Structures Can Help-or Hinder-Marine Ecosystems
Offshore Structures, Decommissioning, and Artificial Reefs
Offshore Habitats
Article link | The Portugal News | The Portugal News | June 13, 2026
Article reports on research suggesting that decommissioned offshore oil rigs could help support marine ecosystems, adding to debate over whether old structures should always be removed.
Policy Window Opens for Rethink on Offshore Structures and Marine Ecosystems
Article link | Envirotec | Envirotec | May 27, 2026
Coverage of the offshore-structures study emphasizes that decommissioning policy should consider the artificial-reef value of platforms, wind infrastructure, and other marine installations.
Study Reveals How Offshore Structures Can Help-or Hinder-Marine Ecosystems
Article link | Phys.org | Phys.org | May 25, 2026
Offshore energy structures can damage marine spaces during construction, but over time they may also become reef-like habitats that support biodiversity, fish stocks, tourism, and nutrient cycling.
Study Reveals How Offshore Structures Can Help - or Hinder
Article link | University of Aberdeen | University of Aberdeen | May 25, 2026
University of Aberdeen researchers report that offshore structures can have far-reaching ecological, social, and economic effects beyond their energy role, especially as potential artificial reefs.
What Happens After Oil and Gas Decommissioning? A Global Systematic Review of Marine Environmental Effects
Article link | Anaëlle J. Lemasson and Antony M. Knights | Ecological Applications | April 23, 2026
Global review examines environmental outcomes after offshore oil and gas decommissioning, comparing arguments for full removal with evidence that some structures support marine biodiversity.
Offshore Oil and Gas Platform Dynamics in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Persian Gulf
Article link | Robin Spanier et al. | arXiv | March 20, 2026
Study uses Sentinel-1 satellite data and deep learning to map thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms, supporting better monitoring of marine infrastructure.
Ecological Effects of Offshore Wind Farm Decommissioning Within the KEC Framework
Article link | Noordzeeloket | Noordzeeloket | February 20, 2026
Report reviews how removing offshore wind foundations, scour protection, and cable protection could eliminate colonized hard-substrate habitats that function as artificial reefs.
Decommissioning Impacts on Offshore Marine Ecosystems
Article link | Nature Index | Nature | 2026
Topic page summarizes why decisions to fully remove, partially remove, or repurpose marine installations matter for biodiversity, ecosystem structure, and habitat connectivity.
US Legislation to Turn Offshore Oil Rigs Into Artificial Reefs
Article link | ECO Magazine | ECO Magazine | October 21, 2025
Article covers proposed U.S. legislation that would create a clearer pathway for converting retired offshore oil rigs into artificial reefs instead of removing them entirely.
Predicting Underwater Landslides Before They Strike
Article link | Texas A&M University | ScienceDaily | May 30, 2025
New modeling method could help protect offshore wind farms, oil rigs, pipelines, anchors, and cables from submarine landslides that threaten underwater infrastructure.
Natural Features and Oil and Gas Structures Influence the Movement of Whale Sharks Across the Seascape
Article link | Australian Institute of Marine Science | Phys.org | January 21, 2025
Satellite tracking shows whale sharks use natural seamounts and artificial offshore oil and gas platforms as movement “stepping stones,” with implications for decommissioning decisions.
Sustainable Offshore Platform Decommissioning
Article link | Norton Rose Fulbright | Norton Rose Fulbright | 2025
Legal and policy overview explains the scale of global offshore platform decommissioning and why environmental, economic, and regulatory factors shape removal decisions.
Petrobras Cuts Investments for Platform Decommissioning by $1.1 Billion
Article link | Reuters | Reuters | December 6, 2024
Petrobras reduces planned spending on platform decommissioning, reflecting the scale, cost, and uncertainty of removing or repurposing offshore oil and gas infrastructure.
CSA Completes Artificial Reef Study for BOEM in Support of Offshore Wind Development
Article link | CSA Ocean Sciences | CSA Ocean Sciences | November 14, 2024
BOEM-supported study evaluates scour-protection materials as artificial reef habitat for native fish and invertebrates, while also checking whether structures attract invasive species.
Background and Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms on Atlantic Sturgeon
Article link | BOEM | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management | August 22, 2024
BOEM white paper reviews potential offshore wind effects on Atlantic sturgeon, including noise, electromagnetic fields, habitat change, and construction disturbance.
Not All Underwater Reefs Are Made of Coral: The US Has Created Artificial Reefs from Sunken Ships, Radio Towers, Boxcars and Even Voting Machines
Article link | Avery B. Paxton and Brendan Runde | Phys.org | January 18, 2024
Article explains the U.S. artificial reef footprint and notes that offshore wind turbine foundations may provide habitat in ways similar to other artificial reefs.
Artificial Reef Footprint in the United States Ocean
Article link | Avery B. Paxton et al. | Nature Sustainability | January 2024
Study maps the artificial reef footprint in U.S. waters, helping scientists compare habitat benefits and risks from human-made structures.
How Oil Rigs Can Save Coral Reefs
Article link | Matt Reynolds | Wired | February 13, 2021
Article explores how old oil rigs can become habitat for deep-sea corals and other marine life, raising questions about whether decommissioning can harm established ecosystems.
Why We Should Leave Old Oil Rigs in the Sea, and Why We Don't
Article link | Ann Scarborough Bull and Milton Love | Phys.org | October 5, 2020
Article explains the economic and ecological arguments for leaving some old oil rig structures in place, including their role as habitat for fish and invertebrates.
Marine Biologists Forecast the Effects of Oil Platform Decommissioning
Article link | UC Santa Barbara | Phys.org | June 2, 2020
Modeling study finds full platform removal could sharply reduce fish biomass at California offshore oil platforms, while partial removal may preserve much of the habitat value.
Midnight at the Oasis: Does Restoration Change the Rigs-to-Reefs Debate in the North Sea?
Article link | K. Ounanian et al. | Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning | 2020
Article examines the social, policy, and restoration dimensions of turning decommissioned oil and gas installations into artificial reefs.
Oil and Gas Rigs Could Help At-Risk Corals Thrive
Article link | University of Edinburgh | Phys.org | August 21, 2018
Researchers find North Sea rigs, shipwrecks, and other structures may help connect coral populations, complicating decisions about removing old offshore installations.
Rigs-to-Reefs: Will the Deep Sea Benefit from Artificial Habitat?
Article link | Peter I. Macreadie et al. | Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment | 2011
Paper evaluates the rigs-to-reefs concept, asking whether obsolete offshore oil platforms should be repurposed as artificial habitats rather than fully removed.
Offshore Wind, Biodiversity, and Marine Life
Marine Life Sustaining Wind Farms
Article link | New York Academy of Sciences | NYAS | May 8, 2026
Student innovation project imagines wind turbines designed as reef-like ecosystems that support marine animals rather than functioning only as energy infrastructure.
Development of Biodiversity Around Artificial Reefs
Article link | OCEaN | OCEaN | February 2, 2026
Project investigates how artificial reefs in the North Sea can contribute to marine biodiversity, with attention to species such as Atlantic cod and European lobsters.
Sustainability and Environment
Article link | Oceans of Energy | Oceans of Energy | 2026
Offshore solar developer presents environmental-benefit analysis claiming reduced seabed disturbance, trawling exclusion, and reef-like habitat formation around floating solar infrastructure.
Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Fish Assemblages at an Offshore Wind Farm
Article link | K. T. Shao et al. | Frontiers in Marine Science | 2026
Study of fish assemblages at the Formosa Wind Farm reports ecological succession and increasing fish abundance and species richness around wind farm structures over time.
COASTAL & MARINE: Offshore Production and Marine Environmental Research
Article link | EUCC | Coastal & Marine | September 9, 2025
Publication includes coverage of offshore industrial activity and research into how new energy infrastructure interacts with marine and coastal ecosystems.
How Corroding Sea Structures Can Provide Vital Habitats for Marine Life
Article link | Phys.org | Phys.org | March 27, 2025
Article explains how corrosion and biofouling interact on shipwrecks and offshore renewable structures, helping complex marine communities develop on human-made surfaces.
An Experimental Study of Using Artificial Reefs as Scour Protection Around an Offshore Wind Monopile
Article link | Xin Liu et al. | arXiv | March 18, 2025
Experimental study tests artificial reef designs around offshore wind monopiles, showing how engineered reef structures might reduce scour while providing habitat.
The Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms on Ecosystems
Article link | Nordic Council of Ministers | TemaNord | 2025
Review chapter summarizes ecological impacts of offshore wind farms, finding both positive and negative effects from new underwater habitat, disturbance, and altered marine use.
Fish and Invertebrates
Article link | Offshore Wind Facts | Offshore Wind Facts | 2025
Overview explains how offshore wind construction can disturb fish and invertebrates while turbine foundations and scour protection may also create artificial-reef habitat.
Fishing Exclusion in Offshore Wind Farms and Its Effects on Ecosystems
Article link | BioConsult SH | BioConsult SH | 2025
Poster discusses how excluding fishing from offshore wind farms may create reserve effects that interact with artificial-reef effects to influence biodiversity.
Offshore Wind Farm Foundations as Artificial Reefs
Article link | K. M. Werner et al. | Thünen Institute | 2024
Field study examines whether different offshore wind turbine foundation types function as artificial reefs for Atlantic cod and other marine life.
Offshore Wind and Fisheries: Science Priorities for Responsible Development
Article link | Elizabeth T. Methratta et al. | Marine and Coastal Fisheries | 2023
Paper identifies what scientists still need to know about offshore wind effects on fisheries, including habitat shifts, monitoring design, and cumulative ecosystem impacts.
Biodiversity Opportunities in Offshore Wind Development
Article link | The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | 2023
Report compiles scientific and regulatory perspectives on how offshore wind might avoid biodiversity loss and potentially deliver marine habitat benefits.
Offshore Wind Farms: Their Impacts, and Potential Habitat Gains as Artificial Reefs
Article link | J. C. Wilson and M. Elliott | Tethys | 2009
Early review discusses offshore wind farm ecological impacts and the possibility that turbine foundations can function as artificial reefs.
Cables, Electromagnetic Fields, Noise, and Other Impacts
Offshore Wind Power Cables Could Affect Sharks and Rays, Studies Find
Article link | Eco-Business | Eco-Business | June 11, 2026
Article reports that electromagnetic fields from offshore wind cables may affect bottom-dwelling sharks and rays in species-specific and life-stage-specific ways.
Unique Study Fills Gap on Effects from Electromagnetic Fields on Marine Mammals
Article link | Vattenfall | Vattenfall | April 27, 2026
Research effort investigates whether electromagnetic fields from offshore wind infrastructure affect harbor porpoises, addressing a major knowledge gap in marine mammal impact studies.
Study Reveals Offshore Wind Farm Cables Affect Female Crabs and Marine Ecosystems
Article link | Times of India | Times of India | September 26, 2025
Article summarizes findings that subsea cables from offshore wind farms can affect female shore crabs, with possible consequences for coastal food webs.
Study Suggests Female Crabs Are More Sensitive to Underwater Power Cables
Article link | University of Portsmouth | EurekAlert! | September 23, 2025
Study finds female shore crabs respond more strongly than males to electromagnetic fields from submarine power cables, raising concerns about migration and reproduction near offshore infrastructure.
Female Crabs Are More Sensitive to Underwater Power Cables
Article link | University of Portsmouth | Phys.org | September 23, 2025
Research shows that electromagnetic fields from offshore power cables can alter female crab behavior, suggesting that cable routing should consider migration corridors and sex-specific impacts.
Can Aerodynamic Noise from Large Offshore Wind Turbines Affect Marine Life?
Article link | Laura Botero Bolívar et al. | arXiv | January 14, 2025
Study estimates underwater noise from large offshore wind turbines and farms, warning that future turbine scale could create new acoustic concerns for marine animals.
Offshore Wind Energy: Assessing Impacts to Marine Life
Article link | NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2025
NOAA explains how federal scientists assess offshore wind impacts on marine mammals, fish, protected species, habitat, oceanography, and fisheries.
Takes of Marine Mammals Incidental to Specified Activities: Offshore Wind Construction
Article link | NOAA Fisheries | Federal Register | September 24, 2024
Federal notice documents review of marine mammal takes connected to offshore wind construction, illustrating how regulators assess noise and disturbance from offshore projects.
Join the FlatEMF Study to Discover the Impact of Subsea Electricity Cables on Marine Wildlife
Article link | Renewables Grid Initiative | RGI | May 9, 2023
Project announcement describes research into whether electromagnetic fields from subsea electricity cables influence flatfish behavior and marine wildlife.
Electromagnetic Field Effects on Marine Life
Article link | Tethys | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory | June 30, 2022
Research brief summarizes how electromagnetic fields from offshore wind cables and marine energy devices may interact with species that sense electric or magnetic fields.
Monitoring, Modeling, and Marine Spatial Planning
Vibroacoustic Underwater Noise from Fixed and Floating Offshore Wind Turbines
Article link | Raúl Sanz-Ramírez et al. | arXiv | May 26, 2026
Modeling study compares underwater noise from fixed and floating offshore wind turbines, providing tools for assessing acoustic impacts during design and permitting.
Floating Offshore Wind Biodiversity Coexistence Report from WindFloat Atlantic
Article link | Ocean Winds | Ocean Winds | April 22, 2026
Ocean Winds reports monitoring results from WindFloat Atlantic, describing floating offshore wind sites as possible ecological havens and feeding grounds when carefully managed.
WindEurope 2026: Ocean Winds Report Highlights Biodiversity Gains
Article link | reNEWS | reNEWS | April 21, 2026
Industry coverage summarizes biodiversity monitoring from a floating offshore wind project, reporting no major detected negative impacts across monitored species in the project area.
Biodiversity Projects 2026
Article link | Vattenfall | Vattenfall | April 16, 2026
Vattenfall report describes biodiversity measures at offshore wind farms, including habitat-complexity improvements and monitoring around turbine foundations.
Offshore Wind and the Spatial Squeeze: A Plausible Future Layout for the North Sea
Article link | INSITE North Sea | INSITE | March 6, 2026
Publication considers how expanding offshore wind, cables, platforms, and other uses could intensify spatial pressure in the North Sea ecosystem.
Performance of Differential Protection Applied to Collector Cables of Offshore Wind Farms With MMC-HVDC Transmission
Article link | Moisés J. B. B. Davi et al. | arXiv | January 23, 2026
Technical study of offshore wind collector cables highlights the expanding subsea electrical infrastructure that must be planned alongside marine environmental safeguards.
AI for Biodiversity and Climate: Offshore Wind
Article link | NatureMetrics | NatureMetrics | October 15, 2025
Webinar explores AI and biodiversity data tools for offshore wind, including how better monitoring can improve environmental assessments and marine biodiversity protection.
Call for Better Monitoring and Mitigation of Offshore Wind Turbines
Article link | University of Portsmouth | Phys.org | September 19, 2025
Review calls for stronger monitoring and mitigation of offshore wind impacts, noting that turbines can create artificial reefs while also disturbing marine species.
Assessing, Monitoring and Mitigating the Effects of Offshore Wind Farms on Biodiversity
Article link | Stephen C. L. Watson et al. | Tethys | August 20, 2025
Review synthesizes how offshore wind farms affect fish, invertebrates, seabirds, and marine mammals through risks such as noise and habitat change as well as reef-like benefits.
Estimating the Spatial Economic and Environmental Impact of Planned Offshore Wind Energy in the USA
Article link | Apoorva Bademi et al. | arXiv | August 20, 2025
Study analyzes economic and environmental spillovers from planned U.S. offshore wind projects, helping compare construction impacts with long-term clean-energy benefits.
Hydrodynamic Modeling Improvements for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines With Validation Results
Article link | Doyal Sarker et al. | arXiv | August 1, 2025
Study improves modeling of floating offshore wind structures, relevant to predicting how these installations interact with waves, currents, and marine environments.
A Swarm of Underwater Drones Can Help Artificial Reefs Off Cyprus Bring Back Sea Life
Article link | Associated Press | Phys.org | February 24, 2025
Cyprus project uses autonomous underwater vehicles to monitor 3D-printed artificial reefs intended to attract marine life in otherwise barren seabed areas.
A Swarm of Small Drones May Help Artificial Reefs Attract Sea Life
Article link | Associated Press | AP News | February 24, 2025
Autonomous underwater drones are deployed to monitor artificial reefs, offering a possible model for tracking how offshore structures support marine life over time.
Marine Renewable Energy: An Introduction to Environmental Effects
Article link | OES-Environmental | Tethys | April 2025
Brochure summarizes environmental effects of marine renewable energy, including how offshore structures, underwater noise, collision risk, and electromagnetic fields can affect marine ecosystems.
Studies Development Plan FY 2025-2026
Article link | BOEM | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management | 2025
BOEM plan identifies research needed to assess and manage impacts of offshore energy and marine mineral development on marine, coastal, and human environments.
Integrating Nature Into Offshore Wind Development
Article link | A. Finalyson and Selvaratnam | Tethys | 2025
White paper recommends incorporating nature-positive principles into offshore wind planning, including biodiversity requirements and decommissioning strategies.
Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy Development Around the World
Article link | OES-Environmental | Tethys | 2020
State-of-the-science work summarizes environmental effects of marine renewable energy, including collision risk, underwater noise, electromagnetic fields, habitat change, and monitoring gaps.
Policy, Governance, and Restoration Funding
Article link | OCEaN | OCEaN | January 26, 2026
Offshore wind, grid planning, and ecosystem protection are discussed together as North Sea countries expand offshore energy while trying to reduce harm to marine life.
Offshore Wind Farm Projects May Be Exempted From New UK Nature Rules
Article link | Helena Horton | The Guardian | October 28, 2025
Report covers debate over whether offshore wind farms should be exempt from biodiversity net gain rules, highlighting tension between renewable energy deployment and marine nature protection.
MARINEWIND Publishes Key Recommendations to Accelerate Floating Offshore Wind Deployment in Europe
Article link | MARINEWIND Project | MARINEWIND | October 23, 2025
European project releases recommendations for floating offshore wind, including lessons from research and stakeholder engagement that can help guide development in sensitive marine areas.
Understand and Minimize the Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy
Article link | WestMED Initiative | WestMED Initiative | October 20, 2025
Funding call emphasizes the need for better tools, data, and collaboration to understand offshore wind impacts on marine ecosystems and support spatial planning.
Advancing Nature-Positive Offshore Wind: Review Calls for Improved Impact Assessment, Monitoring and Mitigation
Article link | Plymouth Marine Laboratory | PML | September 4, 2025
Scientists argue that offshore wind can be climate-positive and biodiversity-positive only if monitoring, mitigation, and international coordination improve across the whole project life cycle.
International Study: 1% of Offshore Wind Investments Could Restore Millions of Square Kilometers of Marine Nature
Article link | NIOZ | NIOZ | July 7, 2025
Study argues that a small share of global offshore wind investment could fund large-scale marine restoration, linking renewable energy expansion with nature-positive ocean planning.
A Synthesis Review of Nature Positive Approaches and Coexistence in Offshore Wind
Article link | J. C. F. Pardo et al. | ICES Journal of Marine Science | 2025
Review assesses nature-positive offshore wind approaches, including artificial reefs, habitat enhancement, fisheries coexistence, and the limits of generalizing biodiversity benefits.
Coastal Protection and Ecotech Reefs
Hybrid Reef Project Off Miami Beach Targets Wave Attenuation and Marine Habitat
Article link | University of Miami | Phys.org | June 2026
Researchers deploy engineered reef structures and restored corals off Miami Beach to test coastal protection, coral survival, marine life recruitment, and ecosystem restoration.
Introducing Ecotech, Nature's Innovation Accelerator
Article link | Phys.org | Phys.org | May 6, 2026
Article describes “ecotech” approaches in which engineered structures such as artificial reefs and offshore wind foundations are designed to support ecological functions.
Introducing Ecotech, Nature's Innovation Accelerator
Article link | Phys.org | Phys.org | May 2026
Visual story highlights how ecotech principles could guide offshore wind development so turbine structures attract fish larvae and support fisheries.
Can Artificial Reefs in Lake Michigan Slow Erosion and Support Biodiversity?
Article link | Phys.org | Phys.org | July 23, 2025
Researchers study man-made rubble-ridge reefs designed to slow coastal erosion while also testing whether the structures improve aquatic biodiversity.
Artificial Reef Designed by MIT Engineers Could Protect Marine Life and Reduce Storm Damage
Article link | ScienceDaily | ScienceDaily | March 2024
MIT-linked artificial reef work explores how engineered coastal structures can protect shorelines while creating habitat, relevant to nature-based offshore infrastructure design.
Foundational and Background Research
Anthropogenic Mixing of Seasonally Stratified Shelf Seas by Offshore Wind Farm Infrastructure
Article link | Robert Dorrell et al. | arXiv | December 18, 2021
Paper warns that large offshore wind arrays may mix seasonally stratified shelf seas, potentially changing nutrient cycles, productivity, and ecosystem structure.
Offshore Wind Farm Artificial Reefs Affect Ecosystem Structure and Functioning: A Synthesis
Article link | Steven Degraer et al. | Oceanography | December 16, 2020
Synthesis explains how offshore wind foundations act as artificial reefs, creating hard-substrate habitat that can change biodiversity, food webs, and fisheries resources.
Offshore Wind Farm Artificial Reefs Affect Ecosystems Structure and Functioning
Article link | Stiftung Offshore-Windenergie | Offshore-Windenergie Foundation | December 1, 2020
Summary of research showing how offshore wind farms create artificial reef effects that can alter ecosystem structure, biodiversity, and functioning.
Artificial Reef Effect in Relation to Offshore Renewable Energy Conversion
Article link | Olivia Langhamer | PLOS ONE / PMC | 2012
Review describes the artificial-reef effect around offshore renewable energy devices and how foundations and scour protection can create habitat for marine organisms.
