https://doi.org/10.82144/5454b207 https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1196 https://www.gbif.org/dataset/ebdb3b04-c243-4d80-844c-34424f235406 https://obis.org/dataset/5d1b1b7b-3009-49a0-970e-9b7be9323906 Sue Barco Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Primary contact SGBarco@virginiaaquarium.com OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

A328 LSRC building Durham NC 27708 US

seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu OBIS-SEAMAP Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University

A328 LSRC building Durham NC 27708 US

seamap-contact@duke.edu https://seamap.env.duke.edu distributor Sue Barco Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Primary contact SGBarco@virginiaaquarium.com owner 2025-07-31 eng Original provider: Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center Dataset credits: Virginia Aquarium Foundation - Sarah D. Mallette, Gwen G. Lockhart, Susan G. Barco University of North Carolina Wilmington - William A. McLellan, Ryan J. McAlarney Erin W. Cummings and D. Ann Pabst Abstract: The data provided were collected as part of the Documenting Whale Migration off Virginia's Coast for Use in Marine Spatial Planning project - funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program Grant Section 309 Environmental Enhancement Program Strategy Project of Special Merit No. NA12NOS4190027. Vessel photo ID and biopsy surveys were conducted under Vessel surveys are conducted under NOAA Scientific Permits No. 16325, Province Town Center for Coastal Studies. Marine Biology PhotoID Marine Animal Survey Marine mammals Photo identification Vessel N/A These surveys are directed and thus contain inherent bias that makes the use in density and abundance estimates problematic. The transect data are available on OBIS-SEAMAP in the Virginia CZM Wind Energy Area Survey- Vessel Sightings - November 2012 through April 2014. The effort data layer, for this project is static transect lines. The most of the vessel track lines and GPS track-point locations are available by request in the form of a file geodatabase. Virginia CZM Aerial survey data, collected during this project is also available on OBIS-SEAMAP. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License. https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1196 Oceans -76.0419 -75.755083 37.002042 36.770507 2012-01-05 2013-01-29 Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). species Balaenoptera physalus Fin whale order Cetacea Cetaceans species Megaptera novaeangliae Humpback whale On November 1, 2013, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced Dominion Virginia Power was the provisional winner of the commercial lease area offshore of Virginia (VA WEA). Development of off shore wind energy poses potential threats to marine mammals, including direct effects (i.e. vessel interactions, collision and entanglement with structures, displacement, avoidance, or injury due to noise from construction or operations) and indirect threats (i.e. effects on prey species, increased risk of fishery and vessel interaction through displacement out of the WEA) (BOEM 2012). This information is important to mitigate the potentially harmful impacts from ocean development, shipping, and other anthropogenic activities. To address these existing data gaps, we have collected marine mammal sighting data from multiple platforms in addition to sea turtle sighting data off the coast of Virginia from 2012 to 2014. Aerial surveys are ideal for covering a large area efficiently, but individual animal identification from the air is difficult for species other than north Atlantic right whales. To identify individual humpback whales, ventral fluke, peduncle and right and left dorsal fin images are required. These images can only be reliably collected from a vessel. In addition, biopsy samples for stock and sex determination and details regarding animal behavior and body condition can be collected from vessels. As part of this project, we used vessel surveys to collect images of humpback and fin whales for identification and biopsy samples for future analyses as part of a larger project being conducted on Gulf of Maine whales. notPlanned Sue Barco Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Primary contact SGBarco@virginiaaquarium.com NA NA NA Sue Barco owner NA zd_1196 2025-07-31T16:31:39-04:00 dataset Barco, S. 2014. Virginia CZM Wind Energy Area Survey- Vessel Survey Sightings - November 2012 through April 2014. Version 1.0.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/5454b207. OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset Page UTF-8 Interactive map https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1196 FGDC Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1196/fgdc EML Metadata UTF-8 XML https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1196/eml OBIS-SEAMAP zd_1196 zd_1196 Sarah D. Mallette, Gwen G. Lockhart, Ryan J. McAlarney, Erin W. Cummings, William A. McLellan, D. Ann Pabst and Susan G. Barco. 2014. Documenting Whale Migration off Virginia’s Coast for Use in Marine Spatial Planning: Aerial and Vessel Surveys in the Proximity of the Virginia Wind Energy Area (VA WEA). VAQF Scientific Report 2014-08: pp. 89.