Offshore wind energy development affects seabird populations through collision, displacement, and food web changes; careful siting and monitoring reduce welfare impacts.
Offshore wind development presents a genuine welfare trade-off between the climate benefits that ultimately support all wildlife welfare and the direct welfare costs to seabirds through collision and displacement. The welfare-aware approach involves strategic siting that minimizes overlap with key seabird foraging and migration routes, deploying collision detection technology to monitor and adapt operations, and investing in monitoring that builds the evidence base for future siting decisions. The alternative of delayed renewable energy transition imposes larger and more diffuse welfare costs through accelerated climate change.