Aerial Survey Baseline Monitoring in the Continental Shelf Region of the VACAPES OPAREA: January 2016 - December 2016 (left side)

Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Foundation and University of North Carolina Wilmington

Dataset credit

Mallette, S.D., R.J. McAlarney, G.G. Lockhart, E.W. Cummings, D.A. Pabst, W.A. McLellan, and S.G. Barco. 2017. Aerial Survey Baseline Monitoring in the Continental Shelf Region of the VACAPES OPAREA: January 2016 - December 2016. Draft Report. Prepared for U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, under Contract No. N62470-15-D-8006, Task Order 05, issued to HDR, Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia. 1 February 2016.

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Gwen Lockhart Tetra Tech
Primary contact Sue Barco Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response
Data entry Ei Fujioka Duke University

Citation

Mallette, S.D., R.J. McAlarney, G.G. Lockhart, E.W. Cummings, D.A. Pabst, W.A. McLellan, and S.G. Barco. 2017. Aerial Survey Baseline Monitoring in the Continental Shelf Region of the VACAPES OPAREA: January 2016 - December 2016. (left side data). Prepared for U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, under Contract No. N62470-15-D-8006, Task Order 05. issued to HDR, Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia. 1 February 2016.

Abstract

The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center Foundation, Inc. (VAQF) is tasked to conduct aerial surveys for the continental shelf region off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay within the Virginia Capes Operating Area (VACAPES OPAREA) to provide marine species monitoring services. In 2007, a multi-institutional project utilizing multiple platforms (i.e., aerial, vessel, and passive acoustic monitoring) aimed at protected species monitoring off the East Coast of the United States commenced. The current survey will complement existing United States (U.S.) Navy marine species monitoring efforts (Aerial Survey Baseline Monitoring- Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing) and supports environmental planning and regulatory compliance along the East Coast of the United States.

This project represents the first year of U.S. Department of the Navy-funded aerial survey efforts off Virginia Beach, Virginia. These surveys build upon previous survey efforts funded by Virginia Coastal Zone Management (CZM) Program to document large whale occurrence in the vicinity of the Virginia Wind Energy Area (VA WEA) and contribute to regional mid-Atlantic ocean planning efforts. VAQF in collaboration with University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) conducted line-transect aerial surveys from 2012 through 2016, although surveys were not flown every month or with consistent effort between years (Mallette et al. 2014, 2016). The goal of the current aerial survey project is to complement existing monitoring projects and contribute baseline protected species occurrence data, including species distribution; abundance; density estimates; and seasonal habitat usage.

The survey site includes an approximately 6,500-square-kilometer area off the coast of Virginia extending from the southern portion of the eastern shore of Virginia to the North Carolina/Virginia state border. The aerial survey design was established based upon advisements from the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modeling (CREEM) at the University of St. Andrews and objectives identified by the U.S. Navy. VAQF conducted fixed-wing aerial line-transect surveys, using previously established distance-sampling protocols, to document the occurrence of marine mammals and sea turtles. VAQF worked closely with the UNCW to maintain consistency among the safety, flight, and data-reporting protocols for Hatteras/Onslow/JAX baseline monitoring projects (McAlarney et al. 2013, 2015). The current report describes monitoring activities that occurred between January 2016 and December 2016.

Purpose

N/A

Supplemental information

This data was created and submitted to the U.S. Department of the Navy on aerial surveys conducted along the continental shelf off the coast of Virginia Beach, Virginia, from January to December 2016. To build upon the existing dataset in the proximity of the VA WEA, previously established transect lines were modified based upon recommendations from CREEM and discussions with UNCW and the Navy to manage overlap between the coastal (VAQF) and Norfolk Canyon Survey Area offshore (UNCW) survey areas. Eighteen survey days were allotted to VAQF to continue surveys of the continental shelf region off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay within the VACAPES OPAREA during 2016.

This dataset represents all sightings except opportunistic sightings collected during the surveys and recorded by the observer on the left side of the craft.

Static map of effort (tracklines) are visible on the OBIS-SEAMAP web site but not included in the download.

The sightings are split into the left and right sides. This dataset represents the left side sightings. The sightings from the right side are available in http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1495

References

Mallette, S.D., R.J. McAlarney, G.G. Lockhart, E.W. Cummings, D.A. Pabst, W.A. McLellan, and S.G. Barco. 2017. Aerial Survey Baseline Monitoring in the Continental Shelf Region of the VACAPES OPAREA: January 2016 - December 2016. (left side data). Prepared for U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Submitted to Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, under Contract No. N62470-15-D-8006, Task Order 05. issued to HDR, Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia. 1 February 2016.

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
oidUnique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)
row_idSequential number added to the original data sheet by OBIS-SEAMAP
obs_dateDate of the sighting (local time)
obs_timeTime of the sighting (local time)
waypointWay point
latitudeLatitude in decimal degrees
longitudeLongitude in decimal degrees
eventEvent. 1.1 = On effort/on track; 1.2 = Off effort. Full codes are available upon request.
headingHeading
tracklineTrack number
observerObserver left or right
visibilityVisibility code
bsssea state
cloudCloud cover code
glare_lGlare Left code
glare_rGlare Right code
vertical_angleVertical angle is given in rough increments of 20 degrees with 1 being directly on the trackline and 4 being anything outside of survey wide to horiz
horizontal_angleHorizontal angle
sighting_cueSighting cue code
sp_obsSpecies name recorded
sp_tsnTaxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
reliabilityReliability code
min_countMinimum number of animals
max_countMaximum number of animals
best_countBest estimate of number of animals
commentsComments
datetime_iniInitial date/time if this record is a follow-up of the already sighted animals
latitude_iniInitial latitude if this record is a follow-up of the already sighted animals
longitude_iniInitial longitude if this record is a follow-up of the already sighted animals
geomGeometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP
OBIS-SEAMAP ID1494
Seabirds0
Marine mammals79
Sea turtles184
Rays and sharks36
Other species3
Non spatial0
Non species0
Total302
Date, Begin2016-01-30
Date, End2016-12-21
Temporal prec.111111
Latitude36.55 - 37.33
Longitude-76.02 - -75.02
Coord. prec.6 decimal digits
PlatformPlane
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortN/A
Traveled (km)0
0
Contr. throughNavy
Registered2017-06-07
Updated2017-06-14
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