Harbour porpoises, white-beaked dolphins and minke whales in North Sea - Land surveys -

Caroline Weir

Dataset credit

Caroline Weir, Ketos Ecology
Karen Stockin, Sea Watch Foundation

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Caroline Weir Ketos Ecology
Data entry Ei Fujioka Duke University

Citation

Abstract

Spatial and temporal trends in the distribution of the harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena, white-beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris, and minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata were assessed at a coastal North Sea study area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Between March 1999 and October 2001, cetacean data were collected using both land- and vessel-based survey methods. A total of 174 sightings of these three cetacean species was recorded during approximately 330 h of combined survey effort (228 h land-based and 102 h vessel-based).

Purpose

The data were collected to analyze the distribution and seasonality of cetacean species in the region, in order to provide recommendations for their long-term conservation and management.

Supplemental information

This dataset is accompanied with a vessel survey, a separate dataset available on OBIS-SEAMAP.
Most survey efforts were conducted on shore-based platforms, hence they are represented as points on the map while a few are represented as lines where observers moved around during the surveys.

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
id
sighting_id
type
input_by
record
speciesSpecies observed
scientific
common
tsnSpecies ITIS TSN
group_
rank
obs_countNumber of animals observed
no_adults
no_juveniles
no_calves
timeTime of observation
dateDate of observation
latitudeLatitude of observation
longitudeLongitude of observation
animal_heading
behav_1
behav_2
assoc_birds
obs_code
platform_code
platform_name
vessel_speed
vessel_course
boat_hdg_at_obs
wind_force
wind_direction
visibility
sea_state
swell
effort_id
distance_to_animal
bearing_to_animal
oidUnique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)
OBIS-SEAMAP ID423
Seabirds0
Marine mammals103
Sea turtles0
Rays and sharks0
Other species0
Non spatial0
Non species0
Total103
Date, Begin2000-02-13
Date, End2001-10-16
Temporal prec.111111
Latitude57.10 - 57.34
Longitude-2.06 - -1.92
Coord. prec.6 decimal digits
PlatformBoat
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortYES (ID: 424)
Traveled (km)20
Effort hours8
Contr. through
Registered2007-09-12
Updated2007-09-20
StatusPublished
Sharing policy CC-BY-NC (Minimum)
Shared with OBIS
GBIF (via DOI)
See metadata in static HTML
See metadata in FGDC XML
See download history / statistics