Bats on the radar

Canberra Times
Monday 19/3/2007 Page: 5

Bats at risk of being killed by wind farms could be saved by the use of radars. Scientists at Aberdeen University studied the behaviour of bats at radar installations and found they didn't forage where electromagnetic radiation could be measured. "We think the bats either feel the heat of the radiation or can actually hear it," a researcher said. "This raises the possibility that radar could be used to deter bats from approaching wind turbines.

And so far this would appear to be the only real possibility of preventing bats colliding with turbine blades worldwide." Three years ago nearly 3000 bats were killed in a six-week period at a wind farm in the United States. A chance remark led scientists to explore radars as a potential deterrent to bats. A student said when driving to Aberdeen he would wedge his bat detector in the window of his car and listen for bats. He noticed every time he passed the Aberdeen Airport radar he could never hear any.