Recreation & Tourism
The marine environment is commonly enjoyed by people for recreational and tourism purposes that can include swimming, surfing, diving, wake boarding, parasailing, boating, and more. Land-based wind energy projects may be located where people enjoy nature hikes, birdwatching, rock climbing, and more. Installation of wind energy and marine renewable energy devices may have a visual impact on the aesthetics of natural seascape or landscape and affect recreational enjoyment of an area and tourism. Noise can also be introduced into an environment from new project installation, including audible noise from operation or construction and visual noise such as flickers and shadows. Following project installation, certain areas may become restricted for privacy or safety purposes, which may reduce access to previously public recreation areas.