European Seabirds At Sea (ESAS)
Citation
Vanermen N, Stienen EWM, Fijn R, Markones N, Holdsworth N, Osypchuk A, Pinto C, Desmet P (2022): European Seabirds at Sea (ESAS). ICES, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://esas.ices.dk https://dx.doi.org/10.14284/601 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-05-16.Description
European Seabirds At Sea (ESAS) assembles offshore monitoring data on seabirds and marine mammals. This international database mostly includes data from the North Sea, yet large parts of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean are covered as well. It finds its origin in the 'Seabirds at Sea' project, which was initiated in 1979 following the discovery of major oil potential in the North Sea and an urgent need to gain more knowledge on the occurrence and distribution of seabirds in their offshore habitat. This led to the execution of large-scale ship-based surveys across the North Sea using a standardized data collection method and a first European-wide data assembly in 1991.
Additional info
ESAS data are collected by various partners during aerial or ship-based surveys at sea and according to a methodology that allows to calculate georeferenced seabird densities. Standard practice further implies collecting as much information as possible on animal age, plumage and behaviour as well as observation conditions and distance to the observed individuals. As part of the WOZEP research project, ESAS data were migrated in 2022 from its former host JNCC (UK) to ICES. The ICES infrastructure allows partners to submit new data and users to download or request data.Taxonomic Coverages
urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:1836
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Avesrank: class
urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:2688
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Cetacearank: infraorder
urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:148736
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Pinnipediarank: infraorder
Geographic Coverages
A, North Atlantic
ANE, Baltic
ANE, Biscay Bay
ANE, English Channel
ANE, North Sea
EurOBIS calculated BBOX > station Bounding Box
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
Nicolas Vanermenoriginator
Vlaamse overheid; Beleidsdomein Omgeving; Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek
BE
email: info@inbo.be
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0156-357X
Eric Stienen
originator
Vlaamse overheid; Beleidsdomein Omgeving; Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek
BE
email: info@inbo.be
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4315-0936
Ruben Fijn
originator
Bureau Waardenburg bv - Consultancy for Ecology & Environment
Nele Markones
originator
Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel; Research and Technology Centre
Neil Holdsworth
originator
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
DK
email: NeilH@ices.dk
Anna Osypchuk
originator
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
DK
Carlos Pinto
originator
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
DK
email: carlos@ices.dk
Peter Desmet
originator
Vlaamse overheid; Beleidsdomein Omgeving; Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek
BE
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025
metadata author
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
BE
email: info@vliz.be
homepage: https://www.vliz.be
Peter Desmet
administrative point of contact
Vlaamse overheid; Beleidsdomein Omgeving; Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek
BE
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8442-8025