Marijke N. de Boer2010Marine Ecology Progress SeriesVol. 408: 265–274DOI: 10.3354/meps08598 Minke whales and other marine mammals were recorded in the central North Sea in an area characterised by frontal features and high productivity northeast of the Dogger Bank (4677 km2). Survey efforts were carried out from 28 March to 2 July 2007, at a finer scale than in earlier studies in the region, using 2 vessels as platforms of opportunity and a dedicated line- transect survey vessel following distance sampling methods. The high density of whales indicated that this offshore bank slope is an important spring habitat for minke whales in the North Sea. In total, 77 sightings of minke whales comprising 130 individuals were recorded. The peak density of minke whales was estimated to be 0.029 whales km–2 (minimum estimate, 95% CI: 0.012 to 0.070) in May. During peak abundance, the minke whales temporarily congregated in the area, suggesting that the whales were taking advantage of the local spring abundance of sandeels. The density found was higher than previous studies have suggested for the central North Sea. The results correspond to recent observations of minke whale redistribution within the North Sea, and these may be related to a decline in sandeel availability elsewhere in the North Sea. Offshore banks that aggregate prey may therefore become increasingly important feeding habitats for minke whales and other top predators in the North Sea. The observed habitat preference of minke whales along this offshore bank appeared to be similar to that observed in coastal areas, and this suggests some degree of generality regarding the preference for this type of habitat.As part of a geophysical seismic survey, marine mammals observations were carried out from three vessels: one seismic vessel, one supply vessel operating well ahead from the seismic vessel. The third vessel, MV ‘Andfjord’, carried out a dedicated Line Transect (LT) survey (23 April to 17 May). The LT vessel was surveying at distances of ≥20 km away from the geophysical vessel and followed predetermined line transects placed randomly in a zigzag pattern in the central (German) part of the survey area.2007033120070702ground conditionCompleteNone plannedNorth Sea3.0844.5811756.264553.15467 NoneMarine Animal SurveyMarine BiologyMarine mammalsVisual SightingVesselNoneNorth Sea Open public unless otherwise noted. See Use Constraints for details. 1. Not to use data obtained from OBIS-SEAMAP in any publication, product, or commercial application without proper attribution to the original data provider(s) and OBIS-SEAMAP unless the datasets are explicitly shown under the CC0 policy. Citations or credits are suggested as attribution. If the data you downloaded come from multiple datasets, a citation or credit to each of the datasets is required. Suggested citation for this dataset: Suggested citation for OBIS-SEAMAP: Halpin, P.N., A.J. Read, E. Fujioka, B.D. Best, B. Donnelly, L.J. Hazen, C. Kot, K. Urian, E. LaBrecque, A. Dimatteo, J. Cleary, C. Good, L.B. Crowder, and K.D. Hyrenbach. 2009. OBIS-SEAMAP: The world data center for marine mammal, sea bird, and sea turtle distributions. Oceanography 22(2):104- 115 2. To forward the citation of any publication / report that made use of the data / tools provided by OBIS-SEAMAP for inclusion in our list of references. 3. Not to hold OBIS-SEAMAP or the original data providers liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. 4. The burden for determining fitness for use of the downloaded data for any analyses lies entirely with the user. OBIS-SEAMAP or the original data providers do not support outcomes of your analyses that used the data you downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP. 5. To consider inclusion of the accompanying transect (effort) dataset if available into the methodology of your analyses. 6. Not to redistribute the data you downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP through any media without contect from OBIS-SEAMAP and the original data providers unless the datasets are explicitly shown under the CC0 policy. Marijke de BoerWageningen Marine Research, University of Wageningen mailing and physical address 1780 AB Den HelderThe Netherlands unknownmarijkedeboer@hotmail.com Marijke N. de Boer Relational database Marijke N. de Boer2010vector digital dataMarine Ecology Progress SeriesVol. 408: 265–274DOI: 10.3354/meps08598de Boer, M2023Version 1.0.0vector digital dataOBIS-SEAMAP2257https://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2257OBIS-SEAMAPhttps://doi.org/10.82144/44415200Halpin, P.N., A.J. Read, E. Fujioka, B.D. Best, B. Donnelly, L.J. Hazen, C. Kot, K. Urian, E. LaBrecque, A. Dimatteo, J. Cleary, C. Good, L.B. Crowder, and K.D. Hyrenbach2009Oceanography22(2):104-115 All attributes were measured and recorded during the survey and validated by the data provider. Permissible values for date and time and coordinates were validated by the data provider and the OBIS-SEAMAP data manager. Species identification by the data provider was matched with Integrated Taxonomic Information System. All observation records are included.Data were put through the OBIS-SEAMAP data registration steps.20230615Point 1e-051e-05Decimal degrees D_WGS_1984WGS_1984 6378137.000000298.257224 Biogeographic dataBiogeographic dataNot applicableoidUnique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)Data providerUnique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)sighting_numberSigthing numberData provider1164dateDate of the sightingData provider2007-03-312007-07-02timeTime of the sighting at GMTData provider03:40:0019:36:00vesselVessel nameData providerVessel namelatitudeLatitude in decimal degreesData provider53.15467056.264500longitudeLongitude in decimal degreesData provider3.0840004.581170sectorSectorData providerSectorspeciesSpecies nameData providerSpecies namelatin_nameScientific nameData providerScientific namesp_tsnTaxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAPData provider180403180653total_numberGroup sizeData provider125beaufort_windBeaufort sea stateData provider0.005.50geomGeometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAPData providerGeometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAPThis 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.Marijke N. de Boer Nicholas School of Environment, Duke Univ. OBIS-SEAMAP mailing and physical address

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DurhamNC27708USA 919-613-8021 seamap-contact@duke.edu OBIS-SEAMAP Dataset ID 2257Not to hold OBIS-SEAMAP liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. Also please refer to Use Constraints. CSV and ESRI shapefile OBIS-SEAMAP Free Go to the OBIS-SEAMAP web site. 2025091120250911 Ei Fujioka Nicholas School, Duke Universitymailing and physical address

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DurhamNC27708USA 919-613-8021 seamap-contact@duke.edu FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial MetadataFGDC-STD-001-1998local time http://www.nbii.gov/Biological Data Profile