Cetacean sightings along the catalan coast

N/A

We currently are conducting a research project on cetaceans. The study is foccussed on the fin whale in the Mediterranean Sea, but we also see other cetaceans such as striped dolphin or bottlenose dolphin. One of the goals of our organization is to contribute to the conservation of the marine life.

The Mediterranean fin whale population is rather small and its distribution uncertain for the most part of the year. The main goal of the project is to collect geographical, environmental, biological, behavioral and population data of every sighting. We also want to take photographs of every whale detected.

The sightings have been made during the Fin Whale Project, a study approved by the Biodiversity and Protection of Animals division of the Departament of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing, Food and the Environment of the Catalan Government. With this project we expect to improve our knowledge about the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) in the Mediterranean Sea.

The dataset has been updated over time as outlined below. Each entry includes the version number, release date, type of change, and a short description.

Overview

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
All attributes are included in the downloadable file (CSV or ESRI File Geodatabase) for "Complete Set of Dataset".

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)	Description
oid	Unique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)
year	Year
month	Month
day	Day
transect	Transect No
obs_time	Time of the sighting (local time zone). Accuracy is up to minutes.
lat_orig	Latitude in original format
latitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
long_orig	Longitude in original format
longitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
speed	Speed
sailing	Sailing method
water_depth	Water depth
sea_state	Sea state
wind_speed	Wind speed
wind_dir	Wind direction
glare	Glare
cloud	Cloud cover
sp_obs	Species name recorded
sp_tsn	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
num_individuals	Number of individuals in original format
obs_count	Group size
calves	Number of calves
distance	Distance to vessel
position	Position to vessel
behavior	Behavior
comments	Comments
geom	Geometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP