Take a state-by-state tour of active federal offshore wind energy leases from New York through Virginia in this story map on the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal. The “Ocean Stories” feature provides a primer on the areas where wind farms could be operational in the coming decade and how the Portal is helping inform decisions on where they can be constructed while posing the least amount of conflict with other ocean users, wildlife and ecosystems. The feature was developed by UCI Communications Director Karl Vilacoba, who serves as the Portal’s communications lead and project manager, and Avalon Bristow of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO).
Vilacoba also recently moderated this webinar with U.S. Coast Guard personnel demonstrating how the Portal was used to design new anchorage areas proposed for the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay areas. He and UCI Director Tony MacDonald will be among the speakers in a Feb. 27 Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean webinar dedicated to recent developments in regional ocean planning.