North Atlantic Right Whale Sightings per Unit Effort Data in and Adjacent to Massachusetts Waters for 1998-2014 (Whales per 1,000 km of Survey)

Metadata also available as

Metadata:


Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Robert D. Kenney
Publication_Date: 20140710
Title:
North Atlantic Right Whale Sightings per Unit Effort Data in and Adjacent to Massachusetts Waters for 1998-2014 (Whales per 1,000 km of Survey)
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data
Description:
Abstract:
These data include North Atlantic right whale sightings per unit effort (SPUE) for 1998-2014. The simplest method for depicting the distribution pattern of a marine species is to create a map of all known records of occurrence, including sightings, strandings, intentional captures, and fisheries by-catch. Sightings data can include observations from rigorous systematic surveys designed to estimate population density for one or more target species, from platforms of opportunity (POP) where the platform's track is known but its primary mission is something else, and from entirely opportunistic sources where nothing is known of the platform track. A significant problem with the interpretation of such distribution patterns based on raw occurrence data is the possibility of bias that may be introduced by the pattern of survey coverage (or "effort"). Is an observed concentration of records real or simply due to a concentration of survey effort? Conversely, is a scarcity or complete absence of sightings in a particular location or time attributable to actual rarity of a species, or only to sparse survey effort? One method to overcome this potential bias is to quantify sighting effort and then to correct sighting frequencies for differences in effort, producing an index that can be termed an encounter rate, sighting rate, or SPUE. The SPUE units that have been used for analyses at the University of Rhode Island have been numbers of animals sighted per standard length of survey track—animals per 1,000 km. An alternative would be to use time as the measure of effort, resulting in sighting rates expressed in, e.g., animals per hour. For any analysis that might combine effort from both aerial and shipboard surveys, trackline length is a more appropriate effort measurement than time because it is more directly comparable between vessels sailing at about 10 knots and airplanes flying at 100-120 knots. Development of this method was begun during the Cetacean and Turtle Assessment Program (CETAP) and it has been used in a variety of published papers and reports. The initial effort to generate maps of special, sensitive, or unique (SSU) resource areas for endangered whales in the 2009 Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan (ocean plan) used sighting data largely or entirely from datasets maintained by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies and the Whale Center of New England. It quickly became clear that those datasets are significantly biased by effort patterns, since the majority of the data contained in them have been collected by naturalists aboard commercial whale-watching boats. Those vessels operate between April and October, making large numbers of trips over the season to locations where whales are known or expected to occur. An alternative method was then used to define the SSU areas for North Atlantic right, humpback, and fin whales in the 2009 ocean plan. The SSU whale habitats were defined as the areas comprising the top two classes from the interpolated SPUE distributions in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) ecological characterization of Stellwagen Bank and the surrounding region (Pittman et al., 2006). Pittman et al. constructed the SPUE distributions from two sources of survey data—the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (NARWC) database, with surveys from 1978 to 2005, and a database of POP surveys conducted by observations from Manomet Bird Observatory (MBO) aboard National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) fisheries and oceanographic sampling cruises, with surveys from about 1980 to 1989. For updating the ocean plan, the NARWC database now includes surveys through May 2013. In addition, data from the ongoing aerial surveys of the Massachusetts-Rhode Island Wind Energy Area (which began in the fall of 2011, funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center [MassCEC]), while not part of the NARWC database, are in the same format and managed on the computer system. It was therefore decided to revise the SSU maps in the 2015 ocean plan for North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, and fin whales using the same SPUE methodology as used by Pittman et al. (2006) applied to the updated NARWC database combined with the available MassCEC aerial survey data. It was decided to begin the time series of included surveys with 1998, since that was the year that the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies began intensive aerial surveys for right whales in Cape Cod Bay and surrounding waters. It was also when NMFS began flying their own right whale surveys in the Northeast. Literature cited: Pittman, S., B. Costa, C. Moy, D. Wiley, and R.D. Kenney. 2006. Cetacean distribution and diversity. Pp. 265-326 in: T. Battista, R. Clark, and S. Pittman (eds).An Ecological Characterization of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Region: Oceanographic, Biogeographic, and Contaminants Assessment. NOAA Technical Memorandum NCCOS 45. Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Purpose:
These data were created by Robert D. Kenney for the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM). These data were used in the development of the 2015 Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Single_Date/Time:
Calendar_Date: 20140710
Currentness_Reference: publication date
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed
Spatial_Domain:
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.130755
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -66.477241
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 43.555388
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.355998
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: biota
Theme_Keyword: oceans
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: cetaceans
Theme_Keyword: North Atlantic right whales
Theme_Keyword: whales
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: U.S. Board on Geographic Names
Place_Keyword: Atlantic Ocean
Place_Keyword: Bigelow Bight
Place_Keyword: Buzzards Bay
Place_Keyword: Cape Cod Bay
Place_Keyword: Gulf of Maine
Place_Keyword: Massachusetts
Place_Keyword: Massachusetts Bay
Place_Keyword: Nantucket Sound
Place_Keyword: North America
Place_Keyword: United States
Place_Keyword: Vineyard Sound
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus:
NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
Place_Keyword:
CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA > MASSACHUSETTS
Place_Keyword: OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
Place_Keyword: OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MAINE
Access_Constraints:
None. These data are in the public domain. GIS files are freely available for download.
Use_Constraints: Please recognize Robert D. Kenney as the source of these data.
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
Contact_Position: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2138
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST
Data_Set_Credit:
These spatial data were created by Robert D. Kenney using data from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.
Native_Data_Set_Environment:
Microsoft Windows 7 Version 6.1 (Build 7601) Service Pack 1; Esri ArcGIS 10.2.2.3552

Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report: An attribute accuracy report was not conducted for these data.
Logical_Consistency_Report: A logical consistency report was not conducted for these data.
Completeness_Report: A completeness report was not conducted for these data.
Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy:
Horizontal_Positional_Accuracy_Report:
Considering the entire span of years covered by the survey and sighting data in the NARWC database, the characteristics of the location data have certainly varied over the years in accuracy, precision, and resolution. When the CETAP study began late in 1978, the state of the art for marine navigation on a typical vessel or survey aircraft was LORAN-C. Some older, smaller vessels still used older LORAN-A units, and some used no electronic navigation but relied on landmarks and dead-reckoning. Some early datasets were based on survey logs with entries like "5 mi NNW of Race Point," and somebody in the CETAP data lab physically plotted such locations on a chart and picked off the latitude and longitude for entry into the database. Most latitude/longitude data in the early years were recorded to the nearest minute. Database resolution improved to tenths of minutes and eventually to hundredths of minutes as GPS came into wide use and the intentional degradation of the system's accuracy ("selective availability") was discontinued. Since the effort data that were used in developing the whale SPUE datasets began with 1998, they were almost surely all collected by GPS. In addition, only data from prior to May 1, 2000 would have reduced accuracy due to selective availability. GPS uses the WGS 84 datum and coordinate system, and it is safe to assume that all post-1998 locations in the database are in WGS 84 coordinates.
Lineage:
Source_Information:
Source_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium
Publication_Date: 20140710
Title: North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium Database
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Digital and/or Hardcopy Resources
Other_Citation_Details:
The survey data included in the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium database for this analysis came from a variety of source organizations, survey types, and platforms over the years from 1998 to 2014. The following is a complete list of the data included (information includes source*, survey type, platform, and years): 1) ECE, Browns Bank aerial survey, Misc. aircraft, 1998; 2) IFAW, Shipboard right whale survey, Song of the Whale, 1999–2000; 3) NEAq, Browns Bank shipboard right whale survey, Sedna IV, 2003; 4) NEAq, Browns Banks aerial survey, Skymaster, 2004; 5) NEAq, Great South Channel shipboard right whale survey, Ezy Duz It, 2005; 6) NEAq, Great South Channel shipboard right whale survey, Galatea, 2005–2006; 7) NEAq, Great South Channel shipboard right whale survey, Reuby, 2004-2005; 8) NEAq, Great South Channel shipboard right whale survey, Sea Holly, 2005; 9) NEAq, Gulf of Maine shipboard right whale survey, Endeavor, 2012; 10) NEAq, Gulf of Maine shipboard right whale survey, Friendship, 2010–2011; 11) NEAq, MassCEC aerial surveys, Skymaster, 2011–2014; 12) NMFS, Aerial marine mammal abundance survey, Twin Otter, 1998, 2002; 13) NMFS, Aerial right whale survey, Goose, 2002–2003; 14) NMFS, Aerial right whale survey, Shrike, 2004; 15) NMFS, Aerial right whale survey, Skymaster, 2002; 16) NMFS, Aerial right whale survey, Twin Otter, 1999–2012; 17) NMFS, Aerial right whale survey, Wigeon, 1998–2001; 18) NMFS, Gulf of Maine shipboard right whale sighting survey, Albatross IV, 2002; 19) NMFS, Shipboard cetacean abundance/ stock assessment survey, Abel J, 1998; 20) NMFS, Shipboard cetacean abundance/ stock assessment survey, Delaware II, 1999, 2002; 21) NMFS, Shipboard large whale/right whale research or tagging survey, Delaware II, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; 22) PCCS, Cape Cod aerial surveys, Skymaster, 1998–2013; 23) PCCS, Shipboard right whale survey, Dixie, 2000; 24) PCCS, Shipboard right whale survey, Gannet, 1999, 2000, 2001; 25) PCCS, Shipboard right whale survey, Orion, 1998; 26) PCCS, Shipboard right whale survey, Shearwater, 1998, 2000, 2003; 27) RFMRP, New York Bight aerial survey, Twin Otter, 2005; 28) WCNE, Shipboard right whale survey, Miss Cape Ann, 2004; and 29) WCNE, Shipboard right whale survey, Miss Gloucester, 2004. *Source abbreviations: ECE = East Coast Ecosystems; IFAW = International Fund for Animal Welfare; NEAq = New England Aquarium; NMFS = National Marine Fisheries Service; PCCS = Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies; RFMRP = Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research & Preservation; WCNE = Whale Center of New England.
Online_Linkage: <http://www.narwc.org/>
Type_of_Source_Media: None
Source_Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 19980101
Ending_Date: 20140228
Source_Currentness_Reference: ground condition
Source_Citation_Abbreviation: NARWC database
Source_Contribution:
Source information used in support of the development of the dataset.
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
1. The SPUE method involves partitioning the study area into a regular grid based on latitude and longitude. The grid size selected is always a compromise between resolution (smaller cells) and sample sizes (larger cells), and cannot be determined without preliminary examination of the available survey data. Previous studies based on the NAWRC data have used cells ranging from 1 min X 1 min (1.9 X 1.4 km ) to 10 min X 10 min (18.5 X 13.9 km). The analysis by Pittman et al. (2006) that was the basis for the initial 2009 ocean plan SSU maps used the 5 min X 5 min grid, which has been repeated here for the present analysis.
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Robert D. Kenney
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus Box 40
City: 215 South Ferry Road
State_or_Province: Narragansett
Postal_Code: RI
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 401-874-6664
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rkenney@gso.uri.edu
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
2. To further standardize SPUE data, the effort data used are typically limited to only a subset of the survey tracklines that meet some pre-defined criteria for "acceptability." The effort criteria can vary between studies. Because the effect of sea state on sightability can vary with the individual size and group size of different species, it is possible to use different Beaufort thresholds for different classes of species, e.g., Beaufort 4 for large whales, Beaufort 2 for species that are small and usually solitary (harbor porpoises, sea turtles, sharks), and Beaufort 3 for everything else in between. Pitman et al. (2006) used a Beaufort 4 threshold for large whales and Beaufort 3 for everything else. Since this project deals with only large whales, the Beaufort threshold was set at 4. There is an additional consideration relative to sightability. Species can differ substantially in their detectability from different survey platforms, especially between aircraft and ships. For all species combined, sighting rates are not significantly different between aerial and shipboard surveys. On the other hand, the differences can be substantial for some individual species. For example, sea turtles are very difficult to spot from shipboard surveys, while harbor porpoises and minke whales are more readily sighted from a shipboard survey. Given a large number of cells sampled with sufficient numbers of sightings from both platform types within the same cells and seasons, it is possible to derive a correction factor into the SPUE calculation for a single species to account for inter-platform differences, however that has so far been done for only one species. Campana et al. (2008) compared aerial and shipboard SPUE indices for basking sharks within grid cells in the upper three quartiles of the distributions for both data types, and used linear regression to compute a correction factor (citation; Campana, S.E., J. Gibson, J. Brazner, L. Marks, W. Joyce, J.-F. Gosselin, R.D. Kenney, P. Shelton, M. Simpson, and J. Lawson. 2008. Status of basking sharks in Atlantic Canada/État du requin-pèlerin de l'Atlantique canadien. CSAS Research Document 2008/004. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.). They determined that it was necessary to multiply shipboard sighting frequencies by a factor of 3.42 before combining aerial and shipboard data into a SPUE analysis of basking sharks from Florida to Nova Scotia. A similar comparison for right whales resulted in aerial and shipboard sighting rates that were within 30% of each other (unpublished data), therefore no inter-platform correction factor was included in the present analysis.
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Robert D. Kenney
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus Box 40
City: 215 South Ferry Road
State_or_Province: Narragansett
Postal_Code: RI
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 401-874-6664
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rkenney@gso.uri.edu
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
3. SPUE analyses were accomplished using custom programs in SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC), currently version 9.1.3. All acceptable aerial and shipboard survey tracks were parsed into the grid cells and their lengths computed. In the NARWC database, all track-line, watch, environmental, and sighting data are combined within the same data records, which represent a sequence of latitude-longitude positions along the track along with all associated information. For any pair of successive positions, the great-circle distance between them (D, in km) can be calculated by: D = 111.12 arccos [sin (X1) sin (X2) + cos (X1) cos (X2) cos (Y2 – Y1)], where X1/Y1 and X2/Y2 are the latitude/longitude coordinates of the two points, and the 111.12 multiplier converts the output from degrees of arc to km. For two successive points within a single grid cell, assigning the length of the intervening segment (i.e., effort) to that cell is straightforward. The difficulty comes when successive points are located in separate cells, with the intervening track segment crossing one or more cell boundaries. In each case, the computer program analytically solves for the intersection point(s) and inserts a new pair of lat/long coordinates for each intersection. A track segment that originally spanned multiple cells is thereby "snipped" into smaller segments, each contained within a single cell. Segment lengths are then calculated as above and assigned to the appropriate cells. All of the individual effort segments within a cell were then summed for each year from 1998 to 2013 and for all years combined.
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Robert D. Kenney
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus Box 40
City: 215 South Ferry Road
State_or_Province: Narragansett
Postal_Code: RI
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 401-874-6664
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rkenney@gso.uri.edu
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
4. Sightings were similarly filtered by the same criteria used for effort and assigned to cells. Sightings of stranded or dead, floating animals were excluded, as were sightings where the reliability of the species identification was judged only as "possible." The numbers of animals sighted per cell within each year were then summed.
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Robert D. Kenney
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus Box 40
City: 215 South Ferry Road
State_or_Province: Narragansett
Postal_Code: RI
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 401-874-6664
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rkenney@gso.uri.edu
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
5. The number of animals sighted within each cell and year was divided by the corresponding effort value, then multiplied by 1,000 to avoid very small decimal values. The resulting SPUE index is in units of animals sighted per 1,000 km of standardized survey track. As requested, the geographic extent of the SPUE dataset was designed to incorporate all of Massachusetts state waters, as well as the southern extent of the Massachusetts-Rhode Island Wind Energy Area—between latitudes 40°25'N and 43°30'N and between longitudes 66°40'W and 71°10'W.
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Robert D. Kenney
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus Box 40
City: 215 South Ferry Road
State_or_Province: Narragansett
Postal_Code: RI
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 401-874-6664
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rkenney@gso.uri.edu
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
6. SPUE datasets generated as above have three classes of values, including two different types of zero data. There are cells with zero effort—those that were never sampled during the particular year. In fact, zero-effort cells are not included in the output data from SPUE analysis but are merely the missing values in a full spatial grid of data. The second type of zero data includes cells that were sampled but where no whales were sighted (i.e., EFFORT > 0, SPUE = 0). The final class includes cells that were sampled and where whales were sighted (i.e., EFFORT > 0, SPUE > 0). That subset of the SPUE dataset can then be ranked into classes to show relative abundance. Note that for typical large marine vertebrates, distribution is patchy and the number of cells with zero SPUE will be much greater than that for all non-zero cells combined, much less for any single ranked category. Pittman et al. (2006) partitioned the SPUE > 0 cells into four classes, which was followed again for the 2015 ocean plan analysis. The complete set of cells with SPUE > 0 for all years combined was run through SAS PROC UNIVARIATE to output the break-points of the frequency distribution—the first quartile (25th percentile), the median (50th percentile), and the third quartile (75th percentile). Another concern with SPUE data is the potential for creating outlier SPUE values in one or more cells with very low effort. For example, assume that a particular cell on the periphery of the study area (which could be far offshore, or close inshore and mainly containing land area) was only visited by a survey once over the entire study, and the survey just barely went through one corner of the cell and covered only 0.1 km. If by chance one whale had been seen, the resultant SPUE value for that cell would be 10,000 whales per 1,000 km. That value is far greater than the maximum calculated for any of the three whale species—989.2 for fin whales, 1,785.1 for right whales, and 1,973.4 for humpback whales. For exactly the reason of avoiding anomalously high outlier values, often a minimum value is established for effort to be included in the dataset. Pittman et al. (2006) set the minimum effort for a 5 min X 5 min cell at 2.5 km. For the present analysis, no minimum effort threshold was defined; a value of 2.5 km within a given year was considered but not implemented after examination of the right whale SPUE dataset showed that there were no cells with EFFORT < 2.5 km and any whales sighted (SPUE > 0).
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Robert D. Kenney
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing
Address: University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus Box 40
City: 215 South Ferry Road
State_or_Province: Narragansett
Postal_Code: RI
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 401-874-6664
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: rkenney@gso.uri.edu
Process_Step:
Process_Description:
Bob Kenney did the above analysis using data from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium from 1998 to 2013 and provided the data to CZM as a table. Bob Kenney later provided a table of additional SPUE data from June 22, 2013 through February 28, 2014. These data were from surveys funded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC). CZM merged the original SPUE data from Bob Kenney and the data from the MassCEC surveys to create this dataset and updated the attributes as needed.
Process_Date: 20140710
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
Contact_Position: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2138
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:
Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector
Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:
SDTS_Terms_Description:
SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Entity point
Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 1871

Spatial_Reference_Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Map_Projection:
Map_Projection_Name: NAD 1983 StatePlane Massachusetts Mainland FIPS 2001
Lambert_Conformal_Conic:
Standard_Parallel: 41.71666666666667
Standard_Parallel: 42.68333333333333
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -71.5
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 41.0
False_Easting: 200000.0
False_Northing: 750000.0
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000000008155898179040834
Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000000008155898179040834
Planar_Distance_Units: meter
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: D North American 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: GRS 1980
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.0
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222101

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Detailed_Description:
Entity_Type:
Entity_Type_Label: Attribute Table
Entity_Type_Definition:
Table containing attribute information associated with the dataset.
Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: FID
Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Esri
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain:
Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: Shape
Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Esri
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: LATITUDE
Attribute_Definition:
Latitude of the central point of the 5X5-minute cell, in decimal degrees. Note that the lat/long is merely an index for the cell; all of the subsequent data values apply to the entire cell, not to any particular geographic point.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Range_Domain:
Range_Domain_Minimum: 40.458
Range_Domain_Maximum: 43.458
Attribute_Units_of_Measure: Decimal degrees
Attribute_Measurement_Resolution: 0.001
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: LONGITUDE
Attribute_Definition:
Longitude of the central point of the 5X5-minute cell, in decimal degrees, and negative per the ArcGIS convention for west longitudes. Note that the lat/long is merely an index for the cell; all of the subsequent data values apply to the entire cell, not to any particular geographic point.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Range_Domain:
Range_Domain_Minimum: -71.125
Range_Domain_Maximum: -66.708
Attribute_Units_of_Measure: Decimal degrees
Attribute_Measurement_Resolution: 0.001
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: N
Attribute_Definition:
Number of different years that cell was sampled between 1998 and 2014.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Range_Domain:
Range_Domain_Minimum: 1
Range_Domain_Maximum: 16
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: SPUE
Attribute_Definition: Whales per 1,000 km of EFFORT.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Range_Domain:
Range_Domain_Minimum: 0
Range_Domain_Maximum: 184.322034
Attribute:
Attribute_Label: CLASS
Attribute_Definition: The ranking category based on the SPUE>0 data.
Attribute_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 0
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: SPUE = 0.
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 1
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: SPUE in the lowest quartile.
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 2
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: SPUE in the second quartile.
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 3
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: SPUE in the third quartile.
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney
Attribute_Domain_Values:
Enumerated_Domain:
Enumerated_Domain_Value: 4
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: SPUE in the top quartile.
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Robert D. Kenney

Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
Contact_Position: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2138
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST
Distribution_Liability:
Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these data, errors and conditions originating from physical sources used to develop these data may be reflected in the data supplied. The client must be aware of data conditions and bear responsibility for the appropriate use of the information with respect to possible errors, original map scale, collection methodology, currency of data, and other conditions specific to certain data. In no event shall CZM be liable for any damages, whether general, special, incidental or consequential damages, arising out of your use of these data. Your sole remedy for damages is to stop using the data. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CZM and its employees against any claim, loss, liability or expense, including attorneys' fees, resulting from loss of or damage to property or the injury to or death of any person arising out of the use of the data. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the CZM.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: Esri Shapefile (.shp)
Format_Version_Number: ArcGIS 8.x, 9.x, and 10.x
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: <http://www.mass.gov/czm/mapping/index.htm>
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: <http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/map_ol/mass_ocean_plan.php>
Fees:
GIS and coordinate files may be downloaded at no charge by following links on the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management website (<http://www.mass.gov/czm/>).

Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20150421
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
Contact_Position: CZM Data Manager
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 251 Causeway Street, Suite 800
City: Boston
State_or_Province: MA
Postal_Code: 02114-2138
Country: US
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 617-626-1200
Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 617-626-1240
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: czm@state.ma.us
Hours_of_Service: 0900 hrs to 1600 hrs EST
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
Metadata_Time_Convention: local time

Generated by mp version 2.9.12 on Tue Apr 21 11:27:33 2015