REMMOA-I Aerial surveys for marine megafauna in French Overseas and adjacent waters: South West Indian Ocean, 2009-2010

The aim of the REMMOA surveys is to establish an inventory of the spatial distribution and monitor the relative abundance of marine mammals, seabirds and other marine megafauna (such as sea turtles and large fish) in the French overseas territories and adjacent waters. Surveys are typically conducted over large marine areas, including offshore and coastal regions, using a standardised protocol (Doremus et al. 2020*). This dataset represents the first implementation of REMMOA in 2009-2010 in French overseas and adjacent waters of the South West Indian Ocean. The transects were flown using twin-engine, high-wing aircraft at an average speed of 90 knots and an altitude of 600 feet. The on-board team consisted of three or four people who took turns manning the stations: two trained observers who looked with the naked eye through bubble windows (allowing the observer to look under the aircraft), and a navigator responsible for collecting the data using VOR software. The data were then validated and entered into the Pelagis Observatory's Observation at Sea database, from which they were extracted for this repository. * https://www.observatoire-pelagis.cnrs.fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/GuideMethodoAerien2020.pdf (2024-04-11)