Cetacean sightings in the north western Mediterranean Sea by GREC – EPHE – EcoOcéan Institut, 1996-1997

Groupe de Recherche sur les Cétacés – EPHE – EcoOcéan Institut

Groupe de Recherche sur les Cétacés (GREC) is a non-profit fully benevolent research organization which was created in 1991 in Antibes (France).. GREC is totally independent from governmental organizations.

GREC has organized, or formally participated to, numerous boat surveys in:
- western and eastern Mediterranean
- north eastern Atlantic
- French Polynesia
- French West Indies
Most of the surveys were carried out in a 'combined visual/acoustic' mode, with a towed hydrophone.
GREC members are authors or co-authors of more than 30 scientific papers.

EcoOcéan Institut is a non-governmental organization, with professional researchers working in the north-western Mediterranean Sea on cetaceans, turtles and seabirds since 1994. Campaigns at sea are dedicated to data collection (marine animals, maritime traffic, marine debris) and the research methods used are mainly "line transect" and "photo-identification."

Groupe de Recherche sur les Cétacés (GREC) is devoted to cetacean research for conservation, with a sighting and effort data base supplemented by many underwater noise recordings, and opportunistic photo-identification material on several species. Groupe de Recherche sur les Cétacés shares data with partner researchers on the basis of 'dear colleague' agreements.
EcoOcéan Institut contributes to the growing knowledge on vertebrates of the Mediterranean Sea aiming for their protection. We work on subjects like ecology, distribution, and monitoring the impact of human activities (bycatch, ship strike, disturbance by leisure vessels). We also work with marine protected area managers and decision makers at a local, national or international level

[2016-12-09] The Tursiops truncatus sighting on 7/9/1997 at 12:59:00 was moved from the GREC Tursiops sightings in the Mediterranean 1988-2010 dataset ((http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/814) to this dataset by request from the provider (to clarify the ownership of the data).

Both 1996 and 1997 surveys include acoustic material. Contact Groupe de Recherche sur les Cétacés for information on these data.

Currently, only cetacean sightings have been included in OBIS-SEAMAP, but the full dataset includes seabirds, sea turtles and sunfish, along with the effort tracks. Contact EcoOcéan Institut for these data.

Additional references:
Gannier A., Drouot V. & Goold J.C., 2002. Distribution and relative abundance of the sperm whale in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 243: 281-293.

Gannier A. & Epinat J., 2008. Cuvier's beaked whale distribution in the Mediterranean Sea: results from small boat surveys 1996-2007. Journal of Marine Biological Association of UK 88: 1145-1151.

Gannier A., 2011. Using existing data and focused surveys to highlight Cuvier's beaked whales favourable areas: a case study in the central Tyrrhenian Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin 63: 10-17.

Azzolin M., A. Gannier, M. Lammers, J. Oswald, E. Papale, G. Buscaino, G. Buffa, S. Mazzola, C. Giacoma, 2014. Combining whistles acoustic parameters to discriminate Mediterranean odontocetes for their passive acoustic monitoring. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 135(1): 502-512

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
oid	Unique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)
owner	Owner of the data
provider	Provider
latitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
lat_dir	Always N
longitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
long_dir	Always E
day	Day
month	Month
year	Year
obs_date	Date of the sighting
local_time	Time of the sighting in original string
obs_time	Time of the sighting (local time zone)
sp_obs	Species name recorded (usually scientific name)
common_name	Species common name recorded
sp_tsn	Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
obs_count	Group size is not available.
geom	Geometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP