Atlas of NOAA fisheries, southwest fisheries science center cetacean and ecosystem surveys: 1986 - 2005 [abstract]

Abstract

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) has conducted surveys in the northeastern Pacific Ocean since the mid-1970s. These surveys collect data to 1) determine marine mammal abundances and distributions, 2) describe cetacean habitats by collecting oceanographic data, and 3) study habitats and distributions of seabirds and marine turtles. These efforts have yielded one of the largest collections of marine mammal distribution data in the world. However, this data has never been mapped in its entirety. As a NOAA Hollings Scholar, I spent my summer at the SWFSC making distribution maps for 1986 - 2005 cruises. I taught myself Perl programming language, to convert text data into an ArcGIS friendly format, and ArcGIS to make these maps. In all, 63 species distribution maps and seven cruise track-line maps that depict Beaufort sea state by geographical area were created. The atlas will be published as a NOAA Technical Memorandum and the ArcGIS shapefiles are available for use by SWFSC personnel.