Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (PaCSEA) GIS Resource Database

The USGS Western Ecological Research Center conducted seabird and marine mammal surveys for the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region to inform future alternative energy planning, development, and management in the northern California Current System (CCS). \r\n\r\nNamed the Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (PaCSEA), the primary survey area extends from Fort Bragg, California to Grays Harbor in Washington state. \r\n\r\nThis region supports abundant populations of seabirds and marine mammals, but comprehensive, multi-seasonal aerial surveys were conducted two decades ago. Marine spatial planning, including potential site selection for offshore energy development, requires the description and quantification of recent species-specific and community patterns in distribution. \r\n\r\nPaCSEA will provide this updated scientific data to federal resource managers. Aircraft surveys conduct seabird and mammal counts together with oceanographic remote sensing -- including aerial hyperspectral radiometry (ocean color) and pyrometry (sea surface temperature) -- to record the biodiversity and ocean habitat features throughout this important and ecologically productive region off the Pacific Northwest coast.