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OAS accession Detail for 0039614, meta_version: 7. Current meta_version is: 64
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| accessions_id: | 0039614 | archive |
|---|---|
| Title: | Aerial sightings of bowhead whales and other marine mammals by the US Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service, 1979 - 2007, in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas (NODC Accession 0039614) |
| Abstract: | The Minerals Management Service (MMS), previously Bureau of Land Management, has funded fall bowhead whale aerial surveys in this area each year since 1978, using a repeatable protocol from 1982 to the present. Bowhead monitoring by MMS Environmental Studies Section, Alaska Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region, normally overlaps the September-October "open-water" season when offshore drilling and geophysical exploration are feasible and when the fall subsistence hunt for bowhead whales takes place near Kaktovik, Nuiqsut, and Barrow, Alaska.
The primary survey aircraft was a de Havilland Twin Otter Series 300. The aircraft was equipped with three medium-size bubble windows that afforded complete viewing of the track-line. Geographic positions of the aircraft were logged onto a laptop computer from a Global Navigation System (1982-1991) or a Global Positioning System (1992-2000). Prior to 1992, many surveys in Block 12 (See Browse Graphic) were conducted from a Grumman Turbo Goose Model G21G. All bowhead (and beluga) whales observed were recorded, along with incidental sightings of other marine mammals. Particular emphasis was placed on regional surveys to assess large-area shifts in the migration pathway of bowhead whales and on the coordination of effort and management of data necessary to support seasonal offshore-drilling and seismic-exploration regulations. The selection of survey blocks to be flown on a given day was nonrandom, based primarily on criteria such as observed and predicted weather conditions over the study area and offshore oil-industry activities. Otherwise, the project attempted to distribute effort fairly evenly east-to-west across the entire study area. Aerial coverage favored inshore survey blocks (See Browse Graphic), since bowheads were rarely sighted north of these blocks in previous surveys (1979-1986). Surveys were flown at a target altitude of 458 m in order to maximize visibility and to minimize potential disturbance to marine mammals. Flights were normally aborted when cloud ceilings were consistently less than 305 m or the wind force was consistently above Beaufort 4. |
| Date received: | 20080311 |
| Start date: | 19790421 |
| End date: | 20071010 |
| Seanames: | |
| West boundary: | -174.01 |
| East boundary: | -125.25 |
| North boundary: | 76.14 |
| South boundary: | 57.72 |
| Observation types: | |
| Instrument types: | |
| Datatypes: | |
| Submitter: | Monnett, Charles |
| Submitting institution: | US DOI; Minerals Management Service |
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| Platforms: | |
| Number of observations: | 87506 |
| Supplementary information: | Data submittor:
Mike Hay Resource Data, Inc. 1205 International Airport Rd. Suite 100 Anchorage, AK 99518 (907) 770-4104 |
| Availability date: | |
| Metadata version: | 7 |
| Keydate: | 2008-03-12 10:55:56+00 |
| Editdate: | 2011-09-19 22:32:41+00 |