https://doi.org/10.82144/42bc38e1 https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1153 https://www.gbif.org/dataset/b5f929d7-02d8-4de7-8a23-b9917c0e3e63 https://obis.org/dataset/2792f68d-84fa-40ad-a9a1-1ae976b98e38 Claire Lacey Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews Primary contact cl20@st-andrews.ac.uk http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/scans2/ OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

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seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu distributor Claire Lacey Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews Primary contact cl20@st-andrews.ac.uk http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/scans2/ owner 2025-07-31 eng Original provider: Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews Dataset credits: Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews Abstract: The European Union (EU) Habitats Directive requires Member States to monitor and maintain at favourable conservation status those species identified to be in need of protection, including all cetaceans. In July 2005 we surveyed the entire EU Atlantic continental shelf to generate robust estimates of abundance for harbour porpoise and other cetacean species. The survey used line transect sampling methods and purpose built data collection equipment designed to minimise bias in estimates of abundance. Shipboard transects covered 19,725 km in sea conditions 6Beaufort 4 in an area of 1,005,743 km2. Aerial transects covered 15,802 km in good/moderate conditions (6Beaufort 3) in an area of 364,371 km2. Thirteen cetacean species were recorded; abundance was estimated for harbour porpoise (375,358; CV = 0.197), bottlenose dolphin (16,485; CV = 0.422), white-beaked dolphin (16,536; CV = 0.303), short-beaked common dolphin (56,221; CV = 0.234) and minke whale (18,958; CV = 0.347). Abundance in 2005 was similar to that estimated in July 1994 for harbour porpoise, white-beaked dolphin and minke whale in a comparable area. However, model-based density surfaces showed a marked difference in harbour porpoise distribution between 1994 and 2005. Our results allow EU Member States to discharge their responsibilities under the Habitats Directive and inform other international organisations concerning the assessment of conservation status of cetaceans and the impact of bycatch at a large spatial scale. The lack of evidence for a change in harbour porpoise abundance in EU waters as a whole does not exclude the possibility of an impact of bycatch in some areas. Monitoring bycatch and estimation of abundance continue to be essential. Occurrence GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml Observation GBIF Dataset Subtype Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_subtype.xml Marine Biology Visual sighting Marine Animal Survey Marine mammals Sea turtles Visual Sighting Aircraft N/A Data from three teams aboard different airplanes were merged. Teams are flagged 'A', 'B' and 'C' in 'computer' attribute. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License. https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1153 Oceans,North Atlantic Ocean,European Atlantic shelf waters -10.75433 9.89915 61.94349 0 2005-06-27 2005-08-04 Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). species Balaenoptera acutorostrata Common minke whale suborder Caniformia Pinnipeds order Cetacea Cetaceans species Cetorhinus maximus Basking shark family Delphinidae Dolphins species Delphinus delphis Short-beaked common dolphin subclass Elasmobranchii Cartilaginous fishes species Grampus griseus Risso's dolphin species Halichoerus grypus Atlantic gray seal genus Lagenorhynchus White-beaked dolphins species Lagenorhynchus albirostris White-beaked dolphin species Mola mola Ocean sunfish species Orcinus orca Killer whale superclass Osteichthyes Bony fishes species Phoca vitulina Harbor seal species Phocoena phocoena Harbor porpoise species Stenella coeruleoalba Striped dolphin order Testudines Turtles species Tursiops truncatus Common bottlenose dolphin notPlanned Claire Lacey Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St. Andrews Primary contact cl20@st-andrews.ac.uk http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/scans2/ NA NA NA Claire Lacey owner NA zd_1153 2025-07-31T16:31:19-04:00 dataset Lacey, C. 2020. SCANS II cetacean sightings from aerial surveys 2005. Version 1.6.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/42bc38e1. OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset Page UTF-8 Interactive map https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1153 FGDC Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1153/fgdc EML Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1153/eml OBIS-SEAMAP zd_1153 zd_1153 Hammond, P.S., Macleod, K., Berggren, P., Borchers, D.L., Burt, L., Cañadas, A., Desportes, G., Donovan, G.P., Gilles, A., Gillespie, D., et al. 2013. Cetacean abundance and distribution in European Atlantic shelf waters to inform conservation and management. Biological Conservation: 164, 107–122.