Mid-Atlantic Nearshore and Mid-shelf Baleen Whale Monitoring

The U.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program

Building upon the long-term data collection established through ongoing monitoring of humpback whales in the VACAPES OPAREA along the southern Virginia and northern North Carolina coasts including within and around the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, this project establishes an expansion of the existing study area to encompass mid-shelf waters out to approximately 40 NM from shore where baleen whale species variability increases. The goals of this study are to assist the U.S. Navy and regulatory agencies by addressing the following questions: What is the baseline ecology and behavior of baleen whales (including critically endangered NARWs, fin whales, humpback whales, sei whales, minke whales, and blue whales) within the study area? Do individual whales exhibit site-fidelity within specific regions of the U.S. Navy OPAREAs over periods of weeks, months, years? What is the seasonal extent of baleen whale movements within and around U.S. Navy OPAREAs? Do baleen whales spend significant time within or primarily move through areas of U.S. Navy live-fire or ASW training events? Are baleen whale movement patterns affected by U.S. Navy training exercises? Are baleen whales likely exposed to significant sound levels produced by vessel traffic and/or military training exercises using active sonar? See https://www.navymarinespeciesmonitoring.us/reading-room/project-profiles/mid-atlantic-nearshore-mid-shelf-baleen-whale-monitoring/ for additional project details

Primary objectives during field work include: 1. Collect baseline occurrence data (location, group size, behavior) of baleen whales 2. Obtain identification photographs and drone video footage for inclusion in regional and local catalogs, as well as morphometric measurements and health assessments 3. Collect biopsy samples of baleen whales for sex determination, mitochondrial control region sequencing, and microsatellite genotyping of tissue samples, and stable isotope analysis to assess foraging related to prey consumption 4. Deploy satellite and suction-cup tags to document seasonal movement patterns in the nearshore and mid-shelf waters off Virginia Beach, specifically whether the whales spend significant time in areas of high shipping traffic and/or areas of U.S. Navy training exercises

2025-11-07: 62 sightings in Nov 2024 - Mar 2025 were appended.
2024-10-31: Sightings in Nov 2023 ~ Mar 2024 were appended.
2023-11-07: Sightings in Nov 2022 ~ Mar 2023 were appended.

Sightings and effort data were entered and organized in this geodatabase by HDR. Source data was provided by HDR under the MSM IDIQ contract. Sighting locations represent actual animal locations. Sightings and effort data for this project were collected using a prototype collection application. Because this application used a different database structure, there are no environmentals associated with the effort tracks.

Survey tracklines (aggregated over time) are available online and included in a downloadable zip file (shapefile format).

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

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.
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)
observationtype
behavior	Behavior
behaviorevent	Behavior event
countcalves	The number of calves in the sighting
countjuveniles	Number of juveniles
counttotbest	The best estimate of the number of animals in the sighting
counttotmax	The highest estimate of the number of animals in the sighting
counttotmin	The lowest estimate of the number of animals in the sighting
cue	Sighing cue
depthsounding	Depth as determined in situ via sounding in meters
distsight	The radial distance to the animal
headingplatmagnetic	Heading magnetic (deg)
headingplattrue	Heading true (deg)
latanimal	Latitude of animals in decimal degrees
latplatform	The latitude of the platform in decimal degrees
longanimal	Longitude of animals in decimal degrees
longplatform	Longitude of the platform in decimal degrees
sightingnotes	Notes field to capture information not covered by existing attributes or other information of interest
opticstype	Method of distance calculation (big eye, clinometer, estimate, 7x50 handheld, laser rangefinder, theodolite)
datetime_utc	Date and time of the sighting at UTC
globalid
spcsnmsci	Scientific name
spcsnmcom	Common name of the sighted species. Output should be singular (e.g. bottlenose dolphin)
sp_tsn	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
distsighttype	Type of distance estimation (estimated, range-finder, reticle calculation, declination calculation)
datetime	Date and time of the sighting at local time zone
sightingnumber	The sighting number for the particular survey day
objectid_org
bearing	Bearing (relative to bow)
geom	Geometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP