GPS-Tagged Swans Record Wind Turbines on Their Flight Path

Bewick’s swans currently inhabiting the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) centre at Welney, UK, are being equipped with a special GPS system that will help determine whether offshore wind farms have a significant effect on them. 

The swans are preparing to fly away to Arctic Russia and researchers want to take this opportunity to learn their paths, so that wind turbines can be installed where they would not affect this species, writes Express.co.uk.

“Bewick’s swans are a fantastic wetland species,” the news site quotes WWT assistant warden Katy Smith as saying.

She added: “This is a really exciting project to gain insight into their lives whilst providing some essential data to help the population’s survival.”

The swans were captured by firing a net at a high speed, the so-called cannon-netting. However, Smith explained that, even though the method seems dramatic, it is safe for the swans.

Image: WWT