UNCW Right Whale Aerial Surveys 2008

William A. McLellan, University of North Carolina Wilmington

These surveys were designed to monitor North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in the south Atlantic Bight and mid-Atlantic, from the North Carolina (NC)-South Carolina (SC) border, north across the Chesapeake Bay mouth, to the southern tip of Cape Charles, Virginia, United States. The contract period began in January 2008 with surveys flown from February to June 2008.
A total of 14 North Atlantic right whales were observed during this aerial survey period, with 12 of the 14 whales sighted between the SC-NC border to Cape Hatteras, NC. Two of the 14 right whales observed were just north of Cape Hatteras, NC. In addition to right whales, two other endangered large whale species were observed. Two humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in two separate sightings during early March, and 20 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in 12 separate sightings were observed during these aerial surveys. Unidentified beaked whales (Family Ziphiidae), short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), and unidentified delphinids (Family Delphinidae) were also observed during the aerial survey period. An unconfirmed beaked whale was observed in early February, and a confirmed beaked whale (species ID is still being debated) was observed in mid-June, both offshore near Cape Hatteras, NC. The threatened loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta (1,455 individuals in 937 sightings), the endangered leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea (4 individuals in 4 sightings), and unidentified sea turtles (615 individuals in 187 sightings) were also observed in this study.

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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. 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.
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
id	definition not provided
date	Date of observation
latitude	Latitude of observation
time	The original data did not record seconds
waypt	Waypoint #
longitude	Longitude of observation
event	Event ID
heading	Heading
track	Track #
obsrv	Observer #
alt	Alt(ft)
visibility	Visibility
bss	Baufort sea state
cloud	Cloud cover
angle	Angle
glare_l	Glare left
glare_r	Glare right
cue	Sighting cue
species	Species observed
common	Common name
tsn	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
scientific	Scientific name
group_	OBIS-SEAMAP defined taxa group
rank	Taxonomic rank
reliability	Reliability of the species identification
obs_min	Min #
obs_max	Max #
obs_count	Best Est; OBIS-SEAMAP uses this field as # of animals
calves	Calves Y/N
avoid	Avoid Y/N
pho_vid	Pho/Vid (Y/N)
comments	Comments
geom	definition not provided
oid	Unique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)
datetime_ini	Initial date/time if this record is a follow-up of the already sighted animals
latitude_ini	Initial latitude if this record is a follow-up of the already sighted animals
longitude_ini	Initial longitude if this record is a follow-up of the already sighted animals