Wind Turbines Kill Bats Without Impact : Discovery News

Aug. 25, 2008 -- Researchers have found the cause behind mysterious bat deaths near wind turbines, in which many bat carcasses appeared uninjured.

The explanation to this puzzle is that the bats' lungs effectively blow up from the rapid pressure drop that occurs as air flows over the turbine blades.

"The idea had kind of been floating around, because people had noticed these bats with no injuries," said Erin Baerwald of the University of Calgary and lead author of a study about the finding in the journal Current Biology.
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The bat fatalities appear to be a more significant problem than bird deaths from wind turbines in most locations. "Here we're picking up ten bats for every bird," Baerwald said.

"I can pick up nine different species of bird. I can pick up two species of bat," she added. "The impact on the populations is very different."