Aerial Survey Counts of Harbor Seals in Coastal Alaska (1998-2002)

Description

This dataset supports efforts to estimate the abundance and trends in population size of Alaska harbor seals. Annual surveys of harbor seal populations are fundamental to estimation of seal abundance, distribution, and trends, which in turn are essential for stock assessment, conservation, and management. The most feasible approach to determining harbor seal distribution and abundance is to use aircraft to count seals when they haul out of the water and are visible. Harbor seals in Alaska occupy a geographically extensive range from approximately long. 172ºE to 130ºW (over 3,500 km east to west) and from lat. 51ºN to 61.5ºN (over 1,000 km north to south). Estimation of the abundance of harbor seals statewide requires broad-scale aerial surveys and these surveys have been conducted by NOAA Fisheries, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and other collaborators since the early 1980s. This dataset reflects counts of harbor seals from surveys conducted in Alaska between 1998 and 2002. During this period, the range of Alaska harbor seals was divided into five survey regions and only one region was surveyed each year. This approach allowed observers to survey the entire coastline of each region, sometimes twice per year, to identify new harbor seal haul-out sites, and for individual haul-out sites to be surveyed multiple times in a given year, weather permitting. This intensive effort produced a lot of data for each region in a given year, but surveying the entire range to produce state-wide abundance and trend estimates required a period of 5 years.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/26740
0 AKFSC Home Page https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/alaska-fisheries-science-center
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/afsc/dmp/pdf/26740.pdf
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords
8 Note: Dataset migrated by Dan Woodrich (AFSC data management coordinator) on 12/15/2021. Contact: Daniel.woodrich@noaa.gov https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/browser/_details/nmfs_odp_afsc/MML/PEP/Aerial%20Survey%20Counts%20of%20Harbor%20Seals%20in%20Coastal%20Alaska%20%281998-2002%29.csv

Tags

  • alaska fisheries science center
  • alaska
  • harbor seal
  • noaa
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • national marine fisheries service
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/afsc
  • alaska harbor seal surveys and abundance

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