PIFSC & SWFSC, Cetacean Survey, HICEAS 2010, Cruise 1641, NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center

Original provider: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Dataset credits: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Abstract: The Hawaiian Islands Cetacean Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS) was a collaborative project between the Southwest and Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Centers during which two NOAA ships (MacArthur II and Oscar Elton Sette) conducted line-transect surveys throughout the entire Hawaii exclusive economic zone (EEZ) over four months (August - December 2010). This dataset represents the surveys (4 Legs) aboard the MacArthur II that began and ended in LaJolla, CA (4 August - 10 December). There were 290 cetacean sightings which included 22 identified species as well as unidentified dolphins, large whales and beaked whales. Purpose: HICEAS 2010 was the second Hawaii EEZ-wide survey. The sighting data were used to estimate the abundance and distribution of cetaceans in Hawaiian waters (Bradford et al. 2017, 2021). Supplemental information: Data were collected under NMFS permit 14097. The data included here are the sightings and on-effort tracks recorded within WinCruz survey software and extracted from the QA/QC'd DASALL file using the R package swfscDAS (https://smwoodman.github.io/swfscDAS). Attributes for fields within the trackline files: Cruise - see description in attribute table below segnum - segment number for continuous on-effort line Date - Local date m/dd/yyyy TimeStart - Local time at start of on-effort segment LatStart - Latitude in decimal degrees at starting point of on-effort segment LongStart - Longitude in decimal degrees at starting point of on-effort segment TimeEnd - Local time at end of on-effort segment LatEnd - Latitude in decimal degrees at end point of on-effort segment LongEnd - Longitude in decimal degrees at end point of on-effort segment Mode - see description in attribute table below EffType - see description in attribute table below avgSpdKt - average speed (knots) of the ship over the on-effort segment traveled avgBft - average Beaufort Sea State over the on-effort segment Other data not included here: Photos and biopsy samples were collected during some sightings. Acoustic detections were recorded from a towed hydrophone array. Sonobuoys were deployed opportunistically. Oceanographic data were collected (CTD, XBT). See the following dataset for the sightings and effort aboard the Oscar Elton Sette. PIFSC & SWFSC, Cetacean Survey, HICEAS 2010, Cruise 1642, NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center