SEFSC Gomex Shelf 1994

Carol Roden, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center

A Eastern Gulf of Mexico cetacean survey was conducted in 1994 by NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center to examine the distribution and estimate abundance of cetaceans in U.S. waters. This dataset contains sightings of not only cetaceans but also other species including sea turtles, fish and shark observed during the ship survey.

Sighted species numbers 299 herds composed of 4,370 total individual animals, including

Atlantic spotted dolphin
Clymene dolphin
Cuvier’s beaked whale
Hardshell
Kemp's ridley
Leatherback
Loggerhead
Pantropical spotted dolphin
Risso's dolphin
Rough-toothed dolphin
Sperm whale
Spinner dolphin
Standard Bottlenose dolphin
Striped dolphin

The dataset is accompanied by transect data which is provided as a separate file.

The purpose of this survey is to examine the distribution and estimate abundance of cetaceans in U.S. waters, which should meet the responsibility under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.
Specific objectives of this survey are:

1. Collect data to estimate abundances and define the distributions of marine mammals in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

2. Collect associated environmental data at designated stations.

3. Obtain biopsy samples of skin and blubber from selected cetacean species.

4. Conduct a shallow water (10 to 20 fathoms) experiment on dolphin attraction to a vessel.

5. Collect data on the distribution and abundance of sea turtles, seabirds and other marine life.

6. Collect data on the distribution and type of marine debris encountered during the survey.

[2020-09-30] The following invalid species names were corrected according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
Bridled Tern: Sterna anaethetus (176897) => Onychoprion anaethetus (824104)
Caspian Tern: Sterna caspia (176924) => Hydroprogne caspia (176935)
Laughing Gull: Larus atricilla (176837) => Leucophaeus atricilla (824079)
Least Tern: Sterna antillarum (176923) => Sternula antillarum (824127)
Royal Tern: Sterna maxima (176922) => Thalasseus maximus (824142)
Sandwich Tern: Sterna sandvicensis (176927) => Thalasseus sandvicensis (176932)
Sooty Tern: Sterna fuscata (176894) => Onychoprion fuscatus (824105)

Overview

The dataset contains information necessary to locate the species sightings observed in the survey. The structure of the dataset was defined by NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Note that the dataset is a subset of the larger, complete dataset collected in the survey which includes environmental information. The columns before LineNo are applied to the shapefile only. The following information is not included in the dataset but will be found in the master data. For details, please contact NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Track; Speed; GPS Status; Observers; Wind direction; Weather; Sea state; Swell; Visibility; Turbidity; Sunlight; Water depth; Water color; Water temperature; Sighting angle; Effort status.

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
lineno	Line number
card	Card
cruiseno	Cruise No.
date	Date of the sighting
time	Time of the sighting (local time)
latitude	Latitude in decimal degrees
longitude	Longitude in decimal degrees
track	Track No
speed	Speed
gpswarning	GPS Warning
leftobs	Left observer
rightobs	Right observer
datarcdr	definition not provided
wind	Wind
weather	Weather code
seastate	Sea state
swell	Swell
visibility	Visibility
versunpos	Vertical sun position
radsunpos	Radial sun position
watercolor	Water color
sightingno	Sighting No.
shipid	Ship ID
oneffort	Indicator of on or off effort
watertemp	Water temperature in degree Celsius
waterdepth	Water depth
spcode	Species code defined by provider
species_tsn	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
species	Species name
scientific	Species scientific name.
herdsize	Herd size
calves	Number of calves
ontransect	On or off transect
cookiecttr	Cookie cutter
remora	Remora
glare	Glare
gpclass	GP class
behavior	Behavior code
cuetime	Cue time
cuelat	Cue latitude
cuelon	Cue longitude
obspos	Observer position
obscode	Observation code
source	Source
reticle	Reticle
distance	Distance
bearing	Bearing
wdepthm	Water depth in meters
geom	Geometry field added by OBIS-SEAMAP
oid	Unique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)