Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Opportunistic Sightings

Charlotte Dunn

doi:10.15468/gecyyy

Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Opportunistic Sightings

Citation

Dunn, C. 2013. Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Opportunistic Sightings. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/329) on yyyy-mm-dd. https://doi.org/10.15468/gecyyy accessed via GBIF.org on 2022-05-22.

Description

Original provider: Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Dataset credits: Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation Abstract: BMMRO has been conducting a long-term study documenting the occurrence, distribution, and abundance of marine mammals around the islands of The Bahamas since 1991. Currently based in Sandy Point on Great Abaco Island, this project provides the only comprehensive documentation of marine mammal fauna in this part of the world.

The dataset presented here includes only marine mammal sightings, and other sea turtle sightings and marine mammal strandings and sightings are included in separate datasets in OBIS-SEAMAP. The dataset presented here is a subset of marine mammal sightings between 1988 and 2011, including sightings reported from the public. The dataset also is a subset of BMMRO vessel encounters with marine mammals between 1991 and 2011, comprising 20 different species, with the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin representing 60% of all encounters. The entire dataset includes stranding records between 1944 and 2011. In addition, the entire dataset includes sightings of turtles comprising 3 different species between 1991 and 2011.

A sighting is when our vessel was unable to close in on the group of animals while an encounter is when closing was successful and photographs / video recording of the animals were obtained. The dataset includes off-transect sightings and encounters (opportunistic). Supplemental information: Please use this dataset along with off-transect tracklines. Note that the original ship location data were recorded every minute. Tracklines up to 2006 were constructed using locations every five minutes to reduce the data size; tracklines constructed for 2006-2011 used data recorded every minute. Tracklines that intersected land were excluded. On-transect sightings and encounters are provided in a different dataset.

8/15/2011: This dataset was updated to include data collected from 2006 to 2008. Data from 2006-2008 did not include group size estimates and "1" was used to be conservative. Effort transects are only available for 3/11/1997-10/1/2008.

06/12/2013: This dataset was updated to include group size estimate data collected from 2006-2008 and sightings/effort data for 2008-2011. When records did not include group size estimates or time, "1" was used to be conservative, and 00:00:00 was used, respectively.

8/8/2013: Effort tracklines that crossed land were excluded and updated, as well as records that had incorrect time values. Shapefile and csv files were updated.

Purpose

Not available

Sampling Description

Study Extent

NA

Sampling

NA

Method steps

NA

Additional info

marine, harvested by iOBIS

Taxonomic Coverages

Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Tursiops truncatus
common name: Common Bottlenose Dolphin rank: species
Tursiops truncatus
common name: Common Bottlenose Dolphin rank: species
Stenella frontalis
common name: Atlantic Spotted Dolphin rank: species
Mesoplodon densirostris
common name: Blainville's Beaked Whale rank: species
Ziphius cavirostris
common name: Cuvier's Beaked Whale rank: species
Kogia sima
common name: Dwarf Sperm Whale rank: species
Pseudorca crassidens
common name: False Killer Whale rank: species
Balaenoptera physalus
common name: Fin Whale rank: species
Lagenodelphis hosei
common name: Fraser's Dolphin rank: species
Mesoplodon europaeus
common name: Gervais' Beaked Whale rank: species
Megaptera novaeangliae
common name: Humpback Whale rank: species
Orcinus orca
common name: Killer Whale rank: species
Peponocephala electra
common name: Melon-headed Whale rank: species
Mesoplodon
common name: beaked whales rank: genus
Balaenoptera acutorostrata
common name: Minke Whale rank: species
Stenella attenuata
common name: Pantropical Spotted Dolphin rank: species
Feresa attenuata
common name: Pygmy Killer Whale rank: species
Kogia breviceps
common name: Pygmy Sperm Whale rank: species
Grampus griseus
common name: Risso's Dolphin rank: species
Steno bredanensis
common name: Rough-toothed Dolphin rank: species
Globicephala macrorhynchus
common name: Short-finned Pilot Whale rank: species
Physeter macrocephalus
common name: Sperm Whale rank: species
Stenella
common name: spinner dolphins rank: genus
Stenella coeruleoalba
common name: Striped Dolphin rank: species
Hyperoodontidae
rank: family
Delphinidae
common name: dolphins rank: family
Kogia
common name: pygmy sperm whales rank: genus
Cetacea
common name: cetaceans rank: order
Cetacea
common name: cetaceans rank: order
Caniformia
common name: pinnipeds rank: suborder
Cetacea
common name: cetaceans rank: order
Trichechus manatus
common name: West Indian Manatee rank: species

Geographic Coverages

Oceans

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Charlotte Dunn
originator
position: Primary contact
Charlotte Dunn
email: None

OBIS-SEAMAP
metadata author
Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University
A328 LSRC building
Durham
27708
NC
US
email: seamap-contact@duke.edu
homepage: http://seamap.env.duke.edu

OBIS-SEAMAP
distributor
Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University
A328 LSRC building
Durham
27708
NC
US
email: seamap-contact@duke.edu
homepage: http://seamap.env.duke.edu

Charlotte Dunn
owner
position: Primary contact
Charlotte Dunn
email: None

Charlotte Dunn
administrative point of contact
position: Primary contact
Charlotte Dunn
email: None