Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Strandings

Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation

Dataset credit

Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Charlotte Dunn N/A
Data entry Ei Fujioka Duke University

Citation

Abstract

The Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation has a long-term study that has been documenting the occurrence, distribution, and abundance of marine mammals around the islands of The Bahamas since 1991. With more than 1,900 marine mammal encounters in the Bahamas, we are providing the only comprehensive documentation of the marine mammal fauna in this part of the world. Our research is based on the use of systematic boat-based surveys for describing the distribution and habitat use of different marine mammal species. We employ photo-identification techniques for the recognition of individual whales and dolphins, and we have developed new statistical approaches for using these data to determine abundance estimates and occupancy patterns. This photographic sampling is complemented by the collection of skin and faecal samples for molecular genetic analysis, which are being used to assess levels of genetic diversity and investigate the structuring of marine mammal populations.


The dataset presented here includes only marine mammal strandings, and other sea turtle and marine mammal sightings are included in separate datasets in OBIS-SEAMAP. The dataset presented here includes 89 stranding records between 1944 and 2005, including 15 species with Cuvier's beaked whale being the most common. The entire dataset consists of 444 marine mammal sightings between 1988 and 2005, including sightings reported from the public. The dataset also includes 1,934 BMMS vessel encounters with marine mammals between 1991 and 2005, comprising 20 different species, with the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin representing 60% of all encounters. Finally, the dataset includes 101 sightings of turtles comprising 3 different species between 1991 and 2005.

Purpose

N/A

Supplemental information

The stranding records have no time recorded and time was filled with 12:00:00. Some records do not have the exact date. See [DateApprx] field, which is not included in the downloadable data for the public, but may be available if requested. Please contact the primary data provider to ask for permission for additional fields.

References

Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation. 2006. Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Strandings. unpublished data.

Attributes

Overview

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
datasetdefinition not provided
linenodefinition not provided
eventnodefinition not provided
seqnodefinition not provided
dateDate of observation
timeTime of observation (not available, so filled with 12:00:00)
yearYear of observation
monthMonth of observation
dayDay of observation
month_sdefinition not provided
dateapprxdefinition not provided
yearapprxdefinition not provided
speciesSpecies observed
sp_codedefinition not provided
tsnSpecies ITIS TSN
scientificdefinition not provided
areadefinition not provided
locapprxdefinition not provided
lat_sdefinition not provided
lon_sdefinition not provided
latLatitude of observation
longLongitude of observation
st_descdefinition not provided
sexdefinition not provided
ageclassdefinition not provided
lengthdefinition not provided
initialobsdefinition not provided
dispositndefinition not provided
excludeddefinition not provided
geomdefinition not provided
oidUnique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)
OBIS-SEAMAP ID327
Seabirds0
Marine mammals89
Sea turtles0
Rays and sharks0
Other species0
Non spatial0
Non species0
Total89
Date, Begin1944-10-17
Date, End2005-07-15
Temporal prec.111000
Latitude20.93 - 26.98
Longitude-79.00 - -73.04
Coord. prec.6 decimal digits
PlatformShore
Data typeAnimal sighting
EffortN/A
Traveled (km)0
0
Contr. through
Registered2006-06-15
Updated2018-10-06
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