Description: NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) provided data layers for protected species, i.e., species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and/or Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), to NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) for BOEM’s consideration in the spatial model developed by NCCOS for BOEM’s OR Call Areas and proposed Wind Energy Area (WEA) designation. This combined data layer contains a subset of highly vulnerable protected species known to occur in the Call Areas exhibiting migratory, feeding, or resident behavior and for which adequate spatial data was available. Species included were Leatherback sea turtles, Southern Resident killer whales, Blue whales, and the Mexico and Central America distinct population segments (DPS) for Humpback whales. Click here for a complete description of NMFS’ protected species data recommendations and methodologies used to develop this data layer.Disclaimer for NMFS’ Role in NCCOS Offshore Wind Spatial Planning Work for BOEM: NCCOS is providing BOEM with technical assistance to support BOEM’s spatial planning in relation to offshore wind projects. This support is being provided with funding resources from NCCOS and through reimbursable support from BOEM to NCCOS. NMFS is providing technical assistance to NCCOS regarding available science (i.e. data layers and modeling methods) for BOEM’s consideration in their spatial modeling efforts. These efforts are supporting BOEM's ocean and coastal planning activities related to siting of call areas, wind energy areas, and transmission cable routing. The information provided by NMFS to NCCOS is purely technical in nature and does not reflect or constitute an official agency policy, position, or action. Official NMFS positions related to spatial planning for offshore wind activity will be submitted by NMFS through written comments to BOEM during the planning and review processes for each activity.