Offshore observations and political boundaries

I, and I am sure many others, have iNat observations from offshore boat trips. However, those observations are not showing up on the lists for their respective states, or other established political entities. For example, I have records of many Tubenoses (Storm-Petrels, Gadfly Petrels, Shearwaters, etc.) that occurred within a state’s established offshore boundaries, but when I search that state’s records they do not appear in iNat (they appear when I search “Atlantic Ocean”, for example). This is not the way such records are treated in eBird, as a comparison. I am not sure why political boundaries “disappear” in iNat once you get offshore. Political boundaries are lines drawn on maps that don’t conform to habitats, because they have a different purpose (they can align with geographic features, but not consistently) - yet they are useful for tracking stats in iNat. Not sure why iNat seems to treat sightings offshore differently when it comes to political territories. I am asking that iNat consider inclusion of sightings within a state’s boundaries (or Country, or County) wherever they occur, including offshore waters. Other sites do it, so seems iNat could as well. Thanks for your consideration.

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https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/implement-standard-marine-places-for-the-worlds-oceans/1458
This is Under Review - and might help one day.

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Thank you Diana

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I hope that some day the EEZ boundaries will be taken in account by iNat.

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