Oftentimes, when mankind fiddles with nature the result is an abject disaster. Sometimes, though, something designed to help us out ends up lending a hand to mother nature as well: Case in point: According to a study by the University of St. Andrews, man-made British and Dutch wind turbines have turned out to serve as valuable feeding grounds for harbor and grey seals in the area.

“You could see that the seal appeared to travel in straight lines between turbines, as if he was checking them out for potential prey and then stopping to forage at certain ones,” said Dr Deborah Russell; a post-doctoral research fellow at the Scottish Oceans Institute at St Andrews.

“Although marine mammals have previously been observed in the vicinity of offshore man-made structures such as wind farms, as far as we know this is the first time it has been demonstrated that some individuals have an affinity with the structures themselves.”

The methodology is fairly simple, as Dr Russell and her team used data from GPS tracking devices to plot the seals’ movements. She says the popularity of wind farms and underwater pipelines among seals is likely due to a reef effect. That is, the structures behave like natural coral reefs, drawing in a diverse strata of wildlife.

Of course, the observed positive effects don’t necessarily mean that wind farms and offshore pipelines are objectively good for marine wildlife, Dr Russell notes. Though the finished product might provide convenient hunting grounds, the developmental and constructions stages might be particularly harsh on the surrounding ecosystem, for instance. Hopefully, now that we know of the potential benefits, any ill effects related to construction can be mitigated.

“However, future development of such structures could be designed to maximise any potential ecological benefits to marine wildlife,” she said.