DFO Maritimes Region Cetacean Sightings

OBIS & OBIS Canada

This is an OBIS formatted version of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Maritimes Region database for visual sightings of cetaceans (e.g. whales, dolphins and porpoises) and other large pelagic animals (e.g. fish and turtles) mostly from the Scotian Shelf/Bay of Fundy portions of Canada's east coast. The collectors of these sightings are diverse (e.g. NGO researchers, fisheries observers, private consultants, etc), mostly on-board ship and mostly collected since the late 1990s. The horizontal resolution of the data (e.g. distance between sightings) varies by a vast amount - just metres in some areas like the Bay of Fundy, and tens to thousands of kilometers elsewhere, like off northern Labrador. A small portion of the database (e.g. DFO Survey) are standardized marine mammal survey data, where a line transect sightings survey is conducted and sightings effort is logged. Only these survey data allow for the calculation of Sightings Per Unit Effort and the use of Distance Sampling methods, leading to a statistically-based, unbiased abundance estimate. The design and structure of the main project database is consistent with other DFO databases and with the University of Rhode Island (URI) whale sightings database. Departures from the URI standard (mainly species and gear codes) are easily translated by users of either database. This database is a compilation of a number of datasets, most of the data being gathered opportunistically. More detailed information on the individual sightings, human interactions and animal behaviour are available from the source database and the resource creator should be contacted.

N/A

Observations archived in a regional database. Here are the caveats that are supplied to users who request records from the source database (similiar caveats should be applied to the OBIS dataset): 1. These data are intended only for the specified user and purpose for which they were requested and should not be distributed to others. 2. The sighting data have not yet been completely error-checked 3. The quality of some of the sighting data is unknown. Most sightings are collected on an opportunistic basis and observations may come from individuals with a variety of expertise in marine mammal identification experiences. 4. Most data have been gathered from platforms of opportunity that were vessel-based. The inherent problems with negative or positive reactions by cetaceans to the approach of such vessels have not yet been factored into the data 5. Sighting effort has not been quantified (i.e., the numbers cannot be used to estimate true species density or abundance for an area). Lack of sightings do not represent lack of species present in a particular area 6. Numbers sighted have not been verified (especially in light of the significant differences in detectability among species). 7. For completeness, these data represent an amalgamation of sightings from a variety of years and seasons. Effort (and number of sightings) is not necessarily consistent among months, years, and areas. There are large gaps between years. Thus seasonal, depth, and distribution information should be interpreted with caution. 8. Many sightings could not be identified to species, but are listed to the smallest taxonomic group possible.

Study Extent: Areas of interest to Canadian research extending from the North Atlantic to the arctic and to the North Pacific.

Quality Control: Scientific names listed in the source database species list have been mapped to recognized standards - marine taxa have been mapped to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). The respective codes(WoRMS AphiaIDs) have been included in this resource in the scientificNameID field as LSIDs.

Step Description 1: This resource was created by the data provider for OBIS Canada. Records were downloaded from the source database and and an OBIS view of the collection was created. DwC fields were populated after consultation between the resource creator and the OBIS Canada data management team. This is the 5th version of this OBIS dataset. The original data records were archived in the Fisheries and Oceans Maritimes SABS cetacean database.

In the original data downloaded from the OBIS Canada IPT server, there were 91 records that were potential duplicates with the existing OBIS-SEAMAP datasets. These records are removed from the online mapping tools but are included in the dataset download.

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 are defined by OBIS.

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	Internal ID
id	Record ID
dataset_id	Dataset ID
scientificname	Scientific name
vernacularname	Vernacular name
aphiaid	Aphia ID
taxonrank	taxononic rank
individualcount	Group size / individual count
eventdate	Event date (precision varies)
eventtime	Event time
decimallatitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
decimallongitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
coordinateprecision	Coordinate precision
catalognumber	Catalog number
collectioncode	Collection code
occurrencestatus	Occurrence status
basisofrecord	Basis of record (HumanObservation / MachineObservation)
modified	Date/time the record was modified
node_id	Node ID
occurrenceid	Occurrence ID
occurrenceremarks	Occurrence remarks
eventid	Event ID
institutioncode	Institution code
lifestage	Life stage
sex	Sex of the animal if known
species	Species by provider
datasetid	Dataset ID by provider
country	Country
locality	Location of ocean
waterbody	Details of ocean
dropped	Flag indicating the record was dropped (always false)
absence	Flag indicating the record represents the absence of the species (always false)
marine	Flag indicating the record is for marine life (always true)
obs_datetime
tprecision
on_land
date_in_future