Visual line-transect surveys for cetaceans were conducted in the southeastern Bering Sea (SEBS) from 10 June to 3 July 2000, in association with a pollock stock assessment survey aboard the NOAA ship Miller Freeman. Observers scanned for cetaceans with 25x (Big Eye) binoculars from the flying bridge (platform height = 12 m) at survey speeds of 18.5-22 km h-1 (10-12 knots). Transect survey effort was 2,194 km in 2000, in a study area 158,561 km2. An additional 402 km of trackline was surveyed in 2000 while in transit to or from pollock survey way points. Fin whales (<i>Balaenoptera physalus</i>) were the most common large whale, and Dall's porpoises (<i>Phocoenoides dalli</i>) were the most common small cetacean. In the SEBS 2000, uncorrected abundance estimates were: 683 (CV = 0.32) fin whales, 102 (CV = 0.50) humpback whales (<i>Megaptera novaeangliae</i>), 1,003 (CV = 0.26) minke whales, 9,807 (CV = 0.20) Dall's porpoise, and 1,958 (CV = 0.21) harbor porpoise. Non-pollock echosigns observed near cetaceans, some of which may have been cetacean prey, were not routinely identified during trawl sampling because the research focus was on pollock abundance assessment. Clearly, additional surveys and concomitant assessment of cetacean prey are needed to better define their role in the Bering Sea ecosystem. Such surveys, combined with measures of local hydrography and prey field should be the goal of future cetacean assessments. Cetacean distribution and abundance in the Bering Sea is poorly described, with even recent reviews of cetaceans' role in the ecosystem reliant on data from the commercial whaling era. Commercial harvests of baleen whales (mysticetes) were extensive in the North Pacific and Bering Sea, especially between 1835 and 1850 for North Pacific right whales and between 1965 and 1979 for fin and humpback whales. The effect of these large-scale removals on the marine ecosystem is largely unknown. Similarly, some species of toothed whales (odontocetes) are sometimes killed in the course of commercial fishing operations. Pelagic dolphins and Dall's porpoise were especially vulnerable during high seas driftnet fishing in the North Pacific in the 1980s, and once again the long-term ramifications of these removals are unknown. One reason for this uncertainty is the lack of data on current cetacean distribution and estimates of abundance in pelagic environments. Surveys to determine distribution and abundance are costly and, therefore, often confined either to coastal waters where the logistics are most practical, or to areas of the ocean where marine mammal mortality associated with commercial fishing is particularly high. The pelagic waters of the Bering Sea have not met either criteria and so are comparatively undersampled for cetaceans. <br><br> Cruises were undertaken in association with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center/Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering (AFSC/RACE) division to conduct visual surveys for cetaceans during the semi-annual acoustic trawl surveys for walleye pollock (<i>Theragra chalcogramma</i>) on the Bering Sea shelf. Biologists from the AFSC/National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML) were able to join subsequent surveys in the southeastern Bering Sea (SEBS) in 2000, providing an opportunity to describe cetacean distribution and calculate abundance over a broad area of the Bering Sea shelf. Waite, J2006https://doi.org/10.82144/623ec599OBIS-SEAMAP122http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/122OBIS-SEAMAPVersion 1.0.0 ground condition 2000-06-10 2000-07-02 Complete None planned -170.2963-154.978758.591554.1873-170.2963-154.978758.591554.1873 PlatformVesselsSightingsUser definedsurveycetaceanwalleye pollocktrawl. acousticUser definedsoutheastern Bering SeaBering SeaAlaska Open public unless otherwise noted. See Use Constraints for details. 1. Not to use data obtained from OBIS-SEAMAP in any publication, product, or commercial application without proper attribution to the original data provider(s) and OBIS-SEAMAP unless the datasets are explicitly shown under the CC0 policy. Citations or credits are suggested as attribution. If the data you downloaded come from multiple datasets, a citation or credit to each of the datasets is required. Suggested citation for this dataset Waite, J. 2006. NMML Bering Sea Cetacean Survey 2000. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/122) on yyyy-mm-dd. Suggested citation for OBIS-SEAMAP: Halpin, P.N., A.J. Read, E. Fujioka, B.D. Best, B. Donnelly, L.J. Hazen, C. Kot, K. Urian, E. LaBrecque, A. Dimatteo, J. Cleary, C. Good, L.B. Crowder, and K.D. Hyrenbach. 2009. OBIS-SEAMAP: The world data center for marine mammal, sea bird, and sea turtle distributions. Oceanography 22(2):104-115 2. To forward the citation of any publication / report that made use of the data / tools provided by OBIS-SEAMAP for inclusion in our list of references. 3. Not to hold OBIS-SEAMAP or the original data providers liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. 4. The burden for determining fitness for use of the downloaded data for any analyses lies entirely with the user. OBIS-SEAMAP or the original data providers do not support outcomes of your analyses that used the data you downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP. 5. To consider inclusion of the accompanying transect (effort) dataset if available into the methodology of your analyses. 6. Not to redistribute the data you downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP through any media without contect from OBIS-SEAMAP and the original data providers unless the datasets are explicitly shown under the CC0 policy. Shapefile Janice Waite National Marine Mammal Laboratory mailing and physical address

7600 Sand Point Way N.E.

Seattle Washington 98115-6349 USA 206-526-6554 Janice.Waite@noaa.gov National Marine Mammal Laboratory Integrated Taxonomic Information Systemhttp://www.itis.usda.gov/Downloaded April, 2004Refer to the contact information of the datasetKingdomAnimalia202423PhylumChordata158852SubphylumVertebrata331030ClassMammalia179913SubclassTheria179916InfraclassEutheria179925OrderCetacea180403SuborderMysticeti552298FamilyBalaenopteridae180522GenusBalaenoptera180523SpeciesBalaenoptera acutorostrata180524SpeciesBalaenoptera borealis180526SpeciesBalaenoptera physalus180527GenusMegaptera180529SpeciesMegaptera novaeangliae180530FamilyEschrichtiidae180519GenusEschrichtius180520SpeciesEschrichtius robustus180521SuborderOdontoceti180404FamilyHyperoodontidae770799GenusBerardius180494SpeciesBerardius bairdii180496GenusMesoplodon180506FamilyDelphinidae180415GenusLagenorhynchus180441SpeciesLagenorhynchus obliquidens180444GenusOrcinus180468SpeciesOrcinus orca180469FamilyPhocoenidae552307GenusPhocoena180472SpeciesPhocoena phocoena180473GenusPhocoenoides180479SpeciesPhocoenoides dalli180480OrderCarnivora180539SuborderCaniformia552303FamilyOtariidae180615GenusCallorhinus180626SpeciesCallorhinus ursinus180627GenusEumetopias180624SpeciesEumetopias jubatus180625FamilyMustelidae180545SubfamilyLutrinae552326GenusEnhydra180546SpeciesEnhydra lutris180547FamilyOdobenidae180637GenusOdobenus180638SpeciesOdobenus rosmarus180639FamilyPhocidae180640GenusPhoca180641SpeciesPhoca vitulina180649 Moore, S.E., J. M. Waite, N. A. Friday and T. Honkalehto2002Progress in Oceanography55(1-2): 249-261Halpin, P.N., A.J. Read, E. Fujioka, B.D. Best, B. Donnelly, L.J. Hazen, C. Kot, K. Urian, E. LaBrecque, A. Dimatteo, J. Cleary, C. Good, L.B. Crowder, and K.D. Hyrenbach2009Oceanography22(2):104-115http://www.tos.org/oceanography/article/obis-seamap-the-world-data-center-for-marine-mammal-sea-bird-and-sea-turtle Kimberly GoetzDuke Universitymailing and physical address

A321 LSRC

DurhamNC27708USAktg4@duke.edu919-613-8021 http://www.nbii.gov/ Biological Data Profile 2006-03-212012-02-23 OBIS-SEAMAPNicholas School of Environment, Duke Univ.mailing and physical address

A328, LSRC

DurhamNC27708USA919-613-8021seamap-contact@duke.eduNot to hold OBIS-SEAMAP liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. Also please refer to Use Constraints.FreeGo to the OBIS-SEAMAP web sitezipzipped shapefilehttp://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/122GCS_WGS_1984Decimal degrees0.0001670.000167D_WGS_1984WGS_19846378137.000000298.257224National Marine Mammal LaboratoryDateObserved dateTimeObserved timeLongitudeLongitude of observationLatitudeLatitude of observationCountObserved countSpeciesSpecies observedoidUnique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)