Offshore and coastal wind power is one of the fastest growing industries in many areas, especially those with shallow coastal regions due to the preferable generation conditions available in the regions. As with any expanding industry, there are concerns regarding the potential environmental effects which may be caused by the installation of the offshore wind turbines and their associated infrastructure, including substations and subsea cables. These include the potential impacts on the biological, physical and human environments. This review discusses in detail the potential impacts arising from offshore wind farm construction, and how these may be quantified and addressed through the use of conceptual models. It concludes that while not environmentally benign, the environmental impacts are minor and can be mitigated through good siting practices. In addition, it suggests that there are opportunities for environmental benefits through habitat creation and conservation protection areas.

Before COVID-19, dementia singing groups and choirs flourished, providing activity, cognitive stimulation, and social support for thousands of people with dementia in the UK. Interactive music provides one of the most effective psychosocial interventions for people with dementia; it can allay agitation and promote wellbeing. Since COVID-19 has halted the delivery of in-person musical activities, it is important for the welfare of people with dementia and their carers to investigate what alternatives to live music making exist, how these alternatives are delivered and how their accessibility can be expanded. This community case study examines recent practice in online music-making in response to COVID-19 restrictions for people with dementia and their supporters, focusing on a UK context. It documents current opportunities for digital music making, and assesses the barriers and facilitators to their delivery and accessibility. Online searches of video streaming sites and social media documented what music activities were available. Expert practitioners and providers collaborated on this study and supplied input about the sessions they had been delivering, the technological challenges and solutions they had found, and the responses of the participants. Recommendations for best practice were developed and refined in consultation with these collaborators. Over 50 examples of online music activities were identified. In addition to the challenges of digital inclusion and accessibility for some older people, delivering live music online has unique challenges due to audio latency and sound quality. It is necessary to adapt the session to the technology's limitations rather than expect to overcome these challenges. The recommendations highlight the importance of accessibility, digital safety and wellbeing of participants. They also suggest ways to optimize the quality of their musical experience. The pandemic has prompted innovative approaches to deliver activities and interventions in a digital format, and people with dementia and their carers have adapted rapidly. While online music is meeting a clear current need for social connection and cognitive stimulation, it also offers some advantages which remain relevant after COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed. The recommendations of this study are intended to be useful to musicians, dementia care practitioners, and researchers during the pandemic and beyond.

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The Lesser Crested Tern (Thalasseus bengalensis emigratus) breeding population in the Mediterranean is found exclusively in Libya, on the two coastal islands of Gara and Elba and one wetland on the mainland coast at Benghazi. In order to improve knowledge of the species migration to wintering quarters in West Africa, a ringing programme was initiated in 2006 and continued until 2012. From a total of 1354 nestlings ringed using metal and/or colour rings, 64 were recovered along their flyway and in their wintering range, representing 6.90% of birds ringed with both colour and metal rings. This provided the opportunity to collect information on post-natal movements (staging and wintering ranges), breeding philopatry and recruitment, in addition to a preliminary estimation of their migration journey duration. This paper indicates

Purpose The main aim of this study was to quantify changes in shallow water physiotopes in the North Sea estuaries of Elbe, Humber, Scheldt, and Weser and to collect information on engineering activities which influenced the estuarine hydrology and potentially the spatial range of physiotopes, both between the nineteenth century and present day. A second aim was to provide a database on the recent physiotope distribution for the assessment of future interventions on these estuaries. Methodically Physiotopes were defined by water depth and salinity. The area of the sub-, supra-, and intertidal physiotopes was calculated from digitised maps from different times since the nineteenth century. The spatial changes were opposed to the dates of implementation of the hydraulic engineering activities. Results From the nineteenth century onwards, the shallow water physiotopes of Elbe, Sea Scheldt, and Weser decreased spatially between 4 and 30%, whereas for the Humber estuary the areas have remained stable. The loss of areas was particularly located in the inner estuaries and concerned mostly freshwater physiotopes. The oligohaline and mesohaline zones exhibited less of a reduction in size, although, in the same order of magnitude, while the area of polyhaline physiotopes remained nearly unchanged. Conclusion The loss of physiotopes which occurred mainly in the freshwater and oligohaline zones is important because physiotopes host different salinity-dependent biological communities. This loss of physiotopes could be observed after the implementation of hydraulic engineering projects, which could have led to higher current velocities, further upstream tidal penetration and very likely a corresponding shift of the salt-/freshwater interface upstream. All these effects altered the physiotope areas of the estuaries, except of the Humber estuary. The Humber had been modified to its today’s shape essentially before the nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the data describing the recent size of physiotopes provide a reference base for the assessment of future interventions in the estuaries of Elbe, Humber, Sea Scheldt, and Weser.