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OAS accession Detail for 0278769
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| accessions_id: | 0278769 | archive |
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| Title: | Marine mammal sightings and hours at sea during vessel-based habitat sampling cruises of Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters from R/V Shearwater NEC-MB2002-1, 2002 (NEC-CoopRes project) (NCEI Accession 0278769) |
| Abstract: | This dataset contains biological and survey - biological data collected on R/V Shearwater during cruise NEC-MB2002-1 from 2002-01-06 to 2002-06-21. These data include species. The instruments used to collect these data include Camera. These data were collected by Dr Daniel McKiernan of Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and Dr Charles Mayo and Dr Moira Brown of Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies as part of the "Northeast Consortium: Cooperative Research (NEC-CoopRes)" project and "NorthEast Consortium (NEC)" program. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) submitted these data to NCEI on 2019-03-14. The following is the text of the dataset description provided by BCO-DMO: Marine mammal sightings and hours at sea during vessel-based habitat sampling cruises of Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters, 2002 Dataset Description: Surveillance, Monitoring, and Management of Right Whales and Habitat of Cape Cod Bay: 2002 Number of opportunistic marine mammal sightings and hours at sea during vessel-based habitat sampling cruises of Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters, 2002 report: Surveillance, Monitoring and Management of North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay and Adjacent Waters - 2002 Final Report by Moira W. Brown, Owen C. Nichols, Marilyn K. Marx, and Jacqueline N. Ciano, Charles Mayo, Moriah Bessinger. Executive Summary: In 2002, from aerial and shipboard efforts in all areas combined, there were 139 sightings of right whales, of which 135 right whales were photographed and analyzed for this report. Of those 135 photographed sightings, 54 were from Cape Cod Bay and state waters along the outer coast of Cape Cod between Chatham and Provincetown (39 from aerial surveys and 15 from vessel cruises), 30 were from aerial surveys of Stellwagen Bank/Wildcat Knoll and 51 were from the Great South Channel. To date, of the 135 photographed sightings, 48 of 54 (88%) in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent state waters and 21 of 30 (70%) in Stellwagen Bank/Wildcat Knoll have been matched to an individual right whale. The 54 sightings from Cape Cod Bay consisted of at least 24 different right whales. There were 18 right whales identified from aerial and vessel surveys and five additional whales that have yet to be matched, but that do not match any of the 18 animals plus one right whale photographed in the Cape Cod Canal on 15 April that was not seen during surveys. The 30 photographed sightings on Stellwagen Bank/Wildcat Knoll represent 29 different right whales of which 21 have been matched to an individual in the catalogue. Of note is one of the identified whales (# 1145), an adult female, which was seen with a calf. This mother calf pair was not recorded during any other surveys or on the calving ground in the southeast US. Our sighting of the calf brings the annual reproduction total for 2002 to 22 calves. Only one whale was seen on more than one occasion (#1424, an entangled right whale) and there remain eight individuals to be matched. There were 51 photographed sightings obtained in the two Great South Channel aerial surveys. Of those, only four whales, two mother-calf pairs also seen on the calving, have been matched. The photographic matching process for the remaining sightings is still underway. None of the matches has undergone final confirmation by researchers the New England Aquarium. This will take place in the autumn of 2002. All sightings were reported upon completion of each survey to the National Marine Fisheries Service Sighting Advisory System. These aerial and vessel surveys are the principal source of right whale sightings for the NMFA/SAS in the winter months for waters in the northeast north of latitude 41°N. Right whales were documented during aerial surveys of the Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat area, in state waters west of the critical habitat and along the outer coast of Cape Cod between Chatham and Race Point for 37 days from 7 February to 15 March 2002. These visual sightings were augmented with passive acoustic monitoring in Cape Cod Bay. The bottom-mounted hydrophones recorded low levels of right whale calls from 24 December 2001 through April and early May. The results of the combined research efforts document right whale presence in Cape Cod Bay from late December through April into early May consistent with the results of the past four years. These data support the timing of existing management actions regarding gear restrictions. The presence of right whales in nearby areas outside of the critical habitats of either Cape Cod Bay or the Great South Channel in 2002 and in past years suggests that a re-evaluation of the area protected by ESA Critical Habitat designation is needed and timely to adequately reflect the distribution and movements of right whales. The use of these areas such as the eastern portion of Stellwagen Bank and Wildcat Knoll has only come to light with the expanded survey efforts of the last five years. Since these areas are used for fishing activity and are transected by a major shipping lane between Boston and New York, consideration should be given to changing the boundaries of the neighboring Cape Cod Bay and Great South Channel Critical Habitats to include these areas of seasonal importance to right whales. We recommend that the data collected in the Stellwagen Bank/Wildcat Knoll area over the last five years be assessed using sightings-per-unit-of-effort analysis to determine the density and seasonality of right whale use and that the area be considered as a target for habitat sampling to assess the conditions of the food resource and for passive acoustic monitoring equipment to augment visual sightings. (click maps to enlarge) Division of Marine Fisheries News article |
| Date received: | 20190314 |
| Start date: | 20020106 |
| End date: | 20020621 |
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| West boundary: | -71 |
| East boundary: | -69.5 |
| North boundary: | 42.5 |
| South boundary: | 41.5 |
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| Submitting institution: | Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office |
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| Supplementary information: | Acquisition Description: Vessel Surveys: CCS maintains a 40' (12m) long, twin diesel engine research vessel Shearwater. The R/V Shearwater has been used successfully for oceanographic sampling and photo-identification in the winter and spring surveillance program in Cape Cod Bay from 1997 through 2002. The R/V Shearwater is equipped with oceanographic sampling equipment including a CTD profiler (conductivity, temperature, depth), plankton nets, surface plankton pump, and flow meter as well as photographic equipment and disentanglement gear. Although the primary objective of these vessel cruises was habitat sampling, some photographs were collected opportunistically of right whales in the vicinity of the boat during sampling and on transits to and from sampling sites. Photographs of right whales obtained during habitat studies were integrated with the photographs collected during aerial surveillance and included in this report in analyses of residency, capture rates, demographics, and life history. The vessel sighting data were included in the report to the NMFS/SAS system. Sighting data from the daily vessel logs were entered into the Right Whale Initiative DBase program as opportunistic surveys. Photographic Methods i) Identification Photographs: During aerial and shipboard surveys, photographs were taken on Kodak Kodachrome 200ASA color slide film, using hand-held 35-mm cameras equipped with 300-mm telephoto lenses and motor drives. From the air, photographers attempted to obtain good perpendicular photographs of the entire rostral callosity pattern and back of every right whale encountered as well as any other scars or markings. From the boat, photographers attempted to collect good oblique photographs of both sides of the head and chin, the body and the flukes. The data recorder on both platforms was responsible for keeping a written record of the roll and frame numbers shot by each photographer in the daily log. ii) Photo-analysis and Matching: Photographs of right whale callosity patterns are used as a basis for identification and cataloging of individuals, following methods developed by Payne et al (1983) and Kraus et al (1986). The cataloging of individually identified animals is based on using high quality photographs of distinctive callosity patterns (raised patches of roughened skin on the top and sides of the head), ventral pigmentation, lip ridges, and scars (Kraus et al 1986). NEAq has curated the catalogue since 1980 and to the best of their knowledge, all photographs of right whales taken in the North Atlantic since 1935 have been included in NEAq's files. This catalogue allows scientists to enumerate the population, and, from resightings of known individuals, to monitor the animals' reproductive status, births, deaths, scarring, distribution and migrations. Since 1980, a total of 26,275 sightings of 436 individual right whales have been archived, of which 327 are thought to be alive, as of December 2001 (A. Knowlton, NEAq, pers. comm.) The matching process consists of separating photographs of right whales into individuals and inter-matching between days within the season. To match different sightings of the same whale, composite drawings and photographs of the callosity patterns of individual right whales are compared to a limited subset of the catalogue that includes animals with a similar appearance. For whales that look alike in the first sort, the original photographs of all probable matches are examined for callosity similarities and supplementary features, including scars, pigmentation, lip crenulations, and morphometric ratios. A match between different sightings is considered positive when the callosity pattern and at least one other feature can be independently matched by at least two experienced researchers (Kraus et al 1986). Exceptions to this multiple identifying feature requirement include whales that have unusual callosity patterns, large scars or birthmarks, or deformities so unique that matches from clear photographs can be based on only one feature. Preliminary photo-analysis and inter-matching was carried out at CCS, with matches confirmed using original photographs cataloged and archived at NEAq. iii) Photographic Data Archiving Upon completion of the matching process, all original slides were returned to CCS and incorporated into the CCS catalogue of identified right whales to update existing files, using the same numbering system as NEAq, in archival quality slide sheets. New England Aquarium (NEAq) archives copies of photographs representing each sighting. Copies of photographs of individuals that are better than existing records, and photographs of newly identified whales, will be included in the NEAq master files as "type specimens" for future reference. The master files are maintained in fireproof safes at NEAq. All catalogue files are available for inspection and on-site use by contributors and collaborators. |
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| Metadata version: | 2 |
| Keydate: | 2023-05-26 04:35:02+00 |
| Editdate: | 2023-09-20 21:17:00+00 |