Cuvier's Beaked Whale and Fin Whale Surveys at the Southern California Offshore Anti-submarine Warfare Range (SOAR)

Brenda Rone

doi:10.15468/dfa6kc

Cuvier's Beaked Whale and Fin Whale Surveys at the Southern California Offshore Anti-submarine Warfare Range (SOAR)

Citation

Schorr GS, Rone BK, Falcone EA, Keene EL, Sweeney, DA. 2019. Cuvier's beaked whale and fin whale surveys at the Southern California Offshore Anti-Submarine Warfare Ranges (SOAR). Final Report to the US Navy Pacific Fleet Integrated Comprehensive Monitoring Program, Award No. N66604-18-P-2187 and Interim Report to the Cooperative Agreement Studies Unit, Award No. N62473-19-2-0025. 54 pg. https://doi.org/10.15468/dfa6kc accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-05-24.

Description

Original provider: Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research Dataset credits: Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research Abstract: The United States (US) Navy uses the Southern California (SOCAL) portion of the Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing area, a collection of nearshore and offshore training areas that include much of the navigable water from Santa Barbara Island, California, to northern Baja California, Mexico, and extending several hundred miles to the west. It is among one of the most heavily used tactical training areas in the world, and is used for a variety of aerial, surface, and subsurface exercises. The Southern California Offshore Range (SCORE) is a subset of complexes within SOCAL centered on San Clemente Island and managed via the Range Operation Center (ROC) on North Island, Coronado. It includes the Southern California Anti-submarine Warfare Range (SOAR), a focal area for exercises involving mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS) systems within the San Nicolas Basin. Through its N45 Living Marine Resources (LMR) research programs, and more recently in support of Pacific Fleet Monitoring efforts, the US Navy has funded directed studies on cetacean occurrence on SOAR since 2006. The primary focus of these studies is to support long-term surveys of Cuvier’s beaked whales and fin whales using photo-identification (photo-ID) and genetics to elucidate population size, structure, and trends, which can in turn provide a particularly robust basis for assessing population-level impacts of Navy training. Data is collected on all species encountered in this region as part of the monitoring program. Purpose: Data from this project is collected to better understand the movement and habitat use of cetaceans within and around the Southern California Bight (SCB). The SCB is home to a diverse group of cetacean species, and is an area of significant human impacts, including commercial shipping, Navy training, and recreational boating. Supplemental information: These surveys were funded by Fleet for Southern California.

Purpose

Data from this project is collected to better understand the movement and habitat use of cetaceans within and around the Southern California Bight (SCB). The SCB is home to a diverse group of cetacean species, and is an area of significant human impacts, including commercial shipping, Navy training, and recreational boating.

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).

Balaenoptera acutorostrata
common name: Common Minke Whale rank: species
Balaenoptera edeni
common name: Eden's whale rank: species
Balaenoptera
common name: baleen whales rank: genus
Balaenoptera musculus
common name: Blue Whale rank: species
Balaenoptera physalus
common name: Fin Whale rank: species
Berardius bairdii
common name: Baird's Beaked Whale rank: species
Delphinus capensis
common name: Long-beaked Common Dolphin rank: species
Delphinus delphis
common name: Short-beaked Common Dolphin rank: species
Delphinus
common name: common dolphins rank: genus
Dermochelys coriacea
common name: Leatherback Sea Turtle rank: species
Eschrichtius robustus
common name: Gray Whale rank: species
Globicephala macrorhynchus
common name: Short-finned Pilot Whale rank: species
Grampus griseus
common name: Risso's Dolphin rank: species
Lagenorhynchus obliquidens
common name: Pacific White-sided Dolphin rank: species
Lissodelphis borealis
common name: Northern Right Whale Dolphin rank: species
Megaptera novaeangliae
common name: Humpback Whale rank: species
Orcinus orca
common name: Killer Whale rank: species
Phoca vitulina
common name: Harbor Seal rank: species
Tursiops truncatus
common name: Common Bottlenose Dolphin rank: species
Cetacea
common name: cetaceans rank: order
Cetacea
common name: cetaceans rank: order
Ziphius cavirostris
common name: Cuvier's Beaked Whale rank: species

Geographic Coverages

Southern California,Pacific

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Brenda Rone
originator
position: Primary contact
Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research
email: brenda.rone@marecotel.org
homepage: http://www.marecotel.org/staff.html

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

Brenda Rone
owner
position: Primary contact
Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research
email: brenda.rone@marecotel.org
homepage: http://www.marecotel.org/staff.html

Brenda Rone
administrative point of contact
position: Primary contact
Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research
email: brenda.rone@marecotel.org
homepage: http://www.marecotel.org/staff.html