A bird in the hand: How falcons are assisting North Sea decom

Falcons are supporting firms to decommission oil and gas assets in the North Sea, not by supporting those working at heights but by moving along birds who have nested.

NBC Environment brought its gyrfalcon Khaleesi to the show floor of Offshore Energies UK’s Offshore Decommissioning conference on Tuesday to explain how avians like her are keeping sea bird populations safe while UK operators prepare to scrap platforms.

The firm assisted Three60 Energy in the decommissioning of DNO’s Schooner platform last year.

An assessment of the asset in 2021 found there were 224 kittiwake nests, 316 eggs and 307 chicks on the platform and the use of falconry assisted in moving the birds from the site.

© Ryan Duff/DCT Media

Clair Ingram, project manager for NBC Environment, told Energy Voice: “We use birds of prey, such as Khaleesi, as part of our bird mitigation work offshore.

“We deliver a range of services from surveys and various mitigation techniques to help manage Kittiwake populations in the run-up to decommissioning.”

Kittiwakes are part of the gull family and nest on North Sea installations.

© Supplied by NBC Environment

The falconry work carried out by NBC Environment “helps reduce nesting populations over time,” Ingram added.

In addition to the work NBC Environment does in deterring birds from platforms, the firm is also looking into assisting with guano on North Sea infrastructure.

The firm is set to begin work next month to clean up helidecks by using its birds and expertise from onshore work.

The offshore workers ready to spread their wings

As an “ambassador” Khaleesi doesn’t work in the North Sea but birds like her do.

“We’ve got a team of gyr x saker falcons and peregrines who work offshore,” the project manager explained. Gyr x saker falcons are a hybrid breed of predatory bird.

Throughout the work on the Schooner decommissioning programme, the NBC Environment team used three falcons to move the kittiwakes from the North Sea platform.

© Ryan Duff/DCT Media

After the birds of prey had concluded their work, 80% of the kittiwakes found in the survey from 2021 were deterred from the platform.

The month before the Schooner platform was lifted, a second survey found that 22% of nests and 7% of eggs remained on the asset.

Ahead of the lift, the remaining sea birds were moved to a new habitat.

Last year Heerema Marine Contractors utilised the Thialf semi-submersible crane vessel to lift the jacket and topsides at the Schooner field.