SEFSC GoMex Oceanic 1997
Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA

Mullin, K. D. & Roden, C. L., NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center

The second of two spring vessel surveys of the GulfCet II Program was conducted in 1997 in oceanic and upper continental slope waters of U.S. Gulf of Mexico by NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center to examine the distribution and estimate abundance of cetaceans in U.S. waters. This dataset contains sightings of not only cetaceans but also other species including sea turtles, fish and shark observed during the ship survey. During the 44 survey days, at least 18 species were sighted, including Bryde's whale Sperm whale Dwarf/pygmy sperm whale Cuvier's beaked whale Blainville's beaked whale Striped dolphin Spinner dolphin Clymene dolphin Pantropical spotted dolphin Atlantic spotted dolphin Fraser's dolphin Bottlenose dolphin Rough-toothed dolphin Risso's dolphin Killer whale False killer whale Pilot whale Pygmy killer whale Melon-headed whale The dataset is accompanied by transect data which is provided as a separate file.

The purpose of this survey is to examine the distribution and estimate abundance of cetaceans in U.S. waters. Specific objectives of this survey are: 1. Collect line-transect data to estimate abundances and define the distribution of each cetacean species in oceanic and selected continental shelf waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. 2. Obtain biopsy samples of skin and blubber from selected cetacean species for genetic and contaminant analysis in order to study the stock structure of Gulf of Mexico cetaceans. 3. collect associated environmental data at designated stations in order to define cetacean habitats. 4. Collect data on the distribution and abundance of seabirds and other marine life. 5. Obtain photographs of selected cetacean species for photo-identification studies. 6. Make recordings of cetacean vocalizations.

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NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. 1997. Report of a Cetacean Survey of Oceanic and Selected Continental Shelf Waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II (Cruise 225)

Overview

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

The dataset contains information necessary to locate the species sightings observed in the survey. The structure of the dataset was defined by NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Note that the dataset is a subset of the larger, complete dataset collected in the survey which includes environmental information. The columns before LineNo are applied to the shapefile only. The following information is not included in the dataset but will be found in the master data. For details, please contact NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Track; Speed; GPS Status; Observers; Wind direction; Weather; Sea state; Swell; Visibility; Turbidity; Sunlight; Water depth; Water color; Water temperature; Sighting angle; Effort status.

Attributes in dataset provided

Attribute (table column)	Description
lineno
card
cruiseno
date
time
latitude
longitude
track
speed
gpswarning
leftobs
rightobs
datarcdr
wind
weather
seastate
swell
visibility
versunpos
radsunpos
watercolor
sightingno
shipid
oneffort
watertemp
waterdepth
spcode
species_tsn
species
scientific	Species scientific name.
herdsize
calves
ontransect
cookiecttr
remora
glare
gpclass
behavior
cuetime
cuelat
cuelon
obspos
obscode
source
reticle
distance
bearing
wdepthm
oid