Federal Agency for Nature Conservation: Porpoise monitoring sightings (WFS)

The service includes individual sightings for porpoise and individual sightings of porpoises and other sightings during porpoise monitoring in the German offshore areas. Individual layers show the spread of the species divided into seasons for individual monitoring years. The data are based on the pig whale recordings carried out within the framework of the BfN monitoring programme. The observation data is presented in the form of points, where the point size varies by number of individuals observed. The recording of porpoises is based on the transect method established for marine mammals (Buckland et al. 2001), which makes it possible to estimate the density of populations. For each observation point, the data set contains information on the animals observed and some additional information (see description of the recorded attributes). In addition to the recorded species and the number of sighted animals, the collection effort is a significant size. This indicates the total size of the area examined at the observation point [km²]. This value is important for the estimation of population density. A more detailed description of the methodology can be found in the monitoring reports of the BfN (https://www.bfn.de/wirbeltiere) or in a summary at http://www.wal-und-mensch.de/wum2006/gilles.php