DUML vessel-based photo-id and biopsy surveys for proposed JAX USWTR site 2016-2025

Duke University Marine Laboratory

Abstract
These data describe results from vessel surveys and visual species-verification trials conducted at the Jacksonville Shallow Water Training Range (JSWTR) in the Jacksonville Operating Area (OPAREA). This work continues from the original multi-institutional monitoring program intended to provide information on the species composition, population identity, density, and baseline behavior of marine mammals and sea turtles present in United States (U.S.) Navy range complexes along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. This baseline monitoring program began in 2007, with aerial and vessel surveys as well as passive acoustic monitoring within Onslow Bay, North Carolina; it subsequently expanded to include study areas off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida; Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. In Onslow Bay, 6 years of monitoring yielded a comprehensive picture of the density, distribution, and abundance of marine mammals and sea turtles as well as provided new insights into residency patterns among pelagic delphinids within this region (Read et al. 2014). Dedicated survey effort within the Onslow Bay site concluded in 2013. Off the coasts of Cape Hatteras and Virginia Beach, more than a decade of surveys and passive acoustic monitoring have also provided information on the complex distribution patterns of the marine mammals and sea turtles within this highly productive area, as well as their species diversity, and has formed the basis for several more recent focused monitoring projects. In addition, more than 9 years of baseline monitoring within the Jacksonville OPAREA have provided similar information on the density and distribution of marine mammals and sea turtles (Foley et al. 2019).

Although the original standardized line-transect visual surveys and archival passive acoustic monitoring have been discontinued in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT) OPAREAs, that foundational work has provided a robust baseline for several ongoing tagging and behavioral response projects (see Atlantic Behavioral Response Study, Mid-Atlantic Offshore Cetacean Monitoring, and Mid-Atlantic Nearshore & Mid-shelf Baleen Whale Monitoring). The JSWTR was installed in 2018, and a dedicated passive acoustic marine mammal monitoring system (Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges [M3R]) was integrated in 2019. Small-vessel surveys resumed on JSWTR in 2018 to support development and calibration of detection and classification algorithms for the M3R system through visual species-verification trials. The present report describes vessel monitoring activities, including photo-identification (photo-ID), satellite tagging, biopsy sampling, and visual species verification at the Jacksonville study area in 2025. Photo-ID work for AFTT protected species monitoring at Cape Hatteras is reported separately (Waples and Read 2025).
2025 marks the end of planned vessel surveys and species verification trials conducted at JSWTR. See Kristan et al. 2026 for a final summary of this work.

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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. The availability of the attributes depends on the share policy. When "Minimum attributes" is selected, only date/time, lat/lon, species identification and group size are available. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider. When "All attributes" is selected, all attributes are available in download.

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)
date	Date of observation
vessel	Vessel name
sightno	Sighting number
starttime	Time of observation at local time zone
starttime_utc	Time of observation at UTC
surveyarea	Survey area
latitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
longitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
seastate_bss	Sea state
depth_meters	Depth in meters
watertemp_degc	Water temperature
species_id	Species scientific name
sp_tsn	Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
groupsize	Group size
geom	Geometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP