NWTRC Small Vessel-based Surveys in 2016 and 2018

Original provider:
HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction, Inc.

Dataset credits:
The U.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program

Abstract:
Data in this dataset represent marine mammal sightings recorded during opportunistic small-vessel surveys for Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) performed in coastal waters of Washington and Oregon. Ten one-day surveys were performed between December 2016 and May 2018, in conjunction with surveys performed by researchers at Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC). Survey objectives included 1) determine where along the outer coast of Washington and Oregon the southern resident killer whales are occurring and/or foraging; 2) determine the prey selected by southern resident killer whales throughout their range, but particularly the coastal waters of the U.S., mainly from Cape Flattery to the Columbia River. Although SRKW were the focus of these surveys, information about location, behavior, and group size was collected for all marine mammal species encountered. Only one SRKW encounter was recorded as part of this project (with L-pod, on 18 February 2018). High-resolution images were collected for all species encounters for purposes of photo-identification. No project report was required for this task. All project data was also provided to NWFSC. Survey work was performed under HDR task order KB05 (IDIQ contract award N62470-15-D-8006, NAVFAC LANT).