Gulf of Maine humpback whale satellite tagging project: 2011

Data provider
Gulf of Maine humpback whale satellite tagging project
Originating data center
Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)
Project partner
The project is being undertaken by multi-institutional team with expertise in whale behavior, ecology, anatomy, physiology, telemetry and wound healing processes. It includes collaborators from the following institutions:

Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) http://www.antarctica.gov.au/science

Cascadia Research Collective (CRC) . http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/

The Marine Mammal Center (MMC) .http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/

National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML)http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/


Research is being performed under NOAA scientific permit #14245.
Project sponsor or sponsor description
Primary research funding comes from NOAA and Exxon through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This is a project of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP).

Satellite-monitored radio tags have yielded important information for the conservation and management of large whales. Tags provide far greater detail on large whale movements and habitat use than more traditional studies, and past tagging projects have revealed the existence of entirely unknown whale habitats. However, it is not uncommon for tags to stop transmitting within days to months of deployment, and follow-up studies on the individuals have been limited. Further work is needed to improve the scientific and conservation value of this technology.

In this study, satellite tagging and its effects are being examined among Gulf of Maine humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). This is among the best studied humpback whale populations. Its strong fidelity to particular feeding sites, long feeding ground residency and strong overlap with observer effort that are expected to result in repeated sightings of tagged animals, and a maximized resighting potential in future years. The project will also produce new information on humpback whale movement and habitat use in relation to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

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Visit STAT's project page for additional information.

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

Attributes are defined by seaturtle.org.

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
oid	Unique ID number (generated by OBIS-SEAMAP)
sort	Internal use
uid	Unique ID assigned by STAT
prognum	Program number
tag_id	PTT ID
utc	Date and time in UTC
lc	Location class
iq	Quality indicator
lat1	Latitude in decimal degrees
dir1	Dir 1
lon1	Longitude in decimal degrees
dir2	Dir 2
lat2
dir3	Dir 3
lon2
dir4	Dir 4
nb_mes	Number of messages received
big_nb_mes
best_level	Best signal strength in dB
pass_duration	Pass duration in seconds
nopc	Number Of Plausibility Checks successful (from 0-4)
calcul_freq	Calculated frequency
altitude	Altitude used for location calculation
sensors	Sensors
species	Species name
tsn	ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number added by OBIS-SEAMAP
timestamp	Numeric timestamp
project_id	STAT Project ID
lc_filter	Parameters to location filtering
speed_filter	Parameters to speed filtering
distance_filter	Parameters to distance filtering
topo_filter	Parameters to topo filtering
time_filter	Parameters to time filtering
angle_filter	Parameters to angle filtering
life_stage	Life stage of the animal
gender	Gender of the animal
wetdry	Wet or dry
wetdry_filter	Parameters to Wet or dry filterint
obs_datetime	Date and time (local time zone)
timezone_h	Time difference from UTC
dataset_id	Dataset ID by OBIS-SEAMAP