NMML 2002-2010 Bering Sea Shelf Cetacean Survey

National Marine Mammal Laboratory

Dataset credit

National Marine Mammal Laboratory

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Janice Waite National Marine Mammal Laboratory
Data entry Connie Kot Duke University

Citation

Abstract

Visual line-transect surveys for cetaceans were conducted in the southeastern Bering Sea (SEBS) in association with a NOAA/Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s pollock stock assessment survey aboard the NOAA ship Miller Freeman (2002 and 2004) and the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson (2008 and 2010). In 2002 and 2004, the surveys were a continuation of those done in 1999 and 2000, taking advantage of the survey platform as it ran transects through SEBS. In 2008 and 2010, the cetacean survey was included as part of the Bering Sea Integrated Ecosystem Research Program, a NPRB funded project to test and improve our understanding of effects of climate change and management actions on the Bering Sea ecosystem. Methods in all years were the same with three observers rotating through two 25x (Big Eye) binocular positions and one recorder on the flying bridge. Survey effort was conducted along the pollock survey transect lines, weather permitting. Additional effort was conducted while in transit to and from pollock survey waypoints. Transect survey effort was 3,761 km in 2002, 1,692 km in 2004 (observers were present for only half of the survey), 3,255 km in 2008 and 1,681 km in 2010. The following cetacean species were recorded: fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus), sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), Baird’s beaked whale (Berardius bairdii), Stejneger’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri), killer whale (Orcinus orca), Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens), Dall’s porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli), and harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). Pinniped species were also recorded to include the Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) and the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus), as well as the sea otter (Enhydra lutris). Fin whales were the most common large whale, and Dall's porpoises were the most common small cetacean. Distribution, abundance estimates and population trends for fin, humpback, and minke whales, and Dall’s and harbor porpoise are currently being analyzed.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this survey was to estimate the abundance of and to describe the distribution of whales and porpoises in the eastern Bering Sea in relation to the oceanographic domain.

Supplemental information

N/A

References

Attributes

Overview

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downloadable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission.

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)Description
oidUnique ID (generated by SEAMAP)
recidRecord ID (generated by SEAMAP)
lineLine
dotDot (on/off effort)
code
obs_timeTime of observation
obs_dateDate of observation
latoriginOriginal latitude
longoriginOriginal longitude
dlatLatitude (decimal degrees)
dlongLongitude (decimal degrees)
effdistEffort distance
onoffOn/off effort
transectTransect number
beaufortBeaufort sea state
swellhtSwell height
swelldirSwell direction
tempTemperature
windspeedWind speed
shipcourseShip course
shspeedShip speed
fograinFog/rain
horizsun
vertsun
winddirWind direction
visibilityVisibility
leftobs
recorder
rightobs
sightnum
sightobs
cue
sightcode
angle
reticle
radialdist
mmdir
mmspeed
spcodeSpecies code
sp_tsnSpecies ITIS TSN
sp_obsSpecies observed
obs_countNumber of animals
highgsiz
lowgsiz
latitudeLatitude of sighting
longitudeLongitude of sighting
perpdistPerpendicular distance
distdtrack
commentsComment 1
comments2Comments 2
comments3Comments 3
comments4Comments 4
OBIS-SEAMAP ID821
Seabirds0
Marine mammals1,471
Sea turtles0
Rays and sharks0
Other species0
Non spatial0
Non species6
Total1,477
Date, Begin2002-06-06
Date, End2010-08-05
Temporal prec.111111
Latitude54.05 - 62.35
Longitude179.79 - 206.53
Coord. prec.4 decimal digits
PlatformBoat
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortYES (ID: 822)
Traveled (km)15,853
Effort hours720
Contr. through
Registered2012-02-22
Updated2012-08-16
StatusPublished
Sharing policy CC-BY-NC (Minimum)
Shared with OBIS
GBIF (via DOI)
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