Habitat-based Models of Cetacean Density and Distribution in the Central North Pacific, 2015

Description

The central North Pacific Ocean includes diverse temperate and tropical pelagic habitats. Studies of the abundance and distribution of cetaceans within these dynamic marine ecosystems have generally been patchy or conducted at coarse spatial and temporal scales, limiting their utility for pelagic conservation planning. Habitat-based density models provide a tool for identifying pelagic areas of importance to cetaceans, because model predictions are spatially explicit. In this study, we present habitat-based models of cetacean density that were developed and validated for the central North Pacific. Spatial predictions of cetacean densities and measures of uncertainty were derived based on data collected during 15 large-scale shipboard cetacean and ecosystem assessment surveys conducted from 1997 to 2012. We developed generalized additive models using static and remotely sensed dynamic habitat variables, including distance to land, sea-surface temperature (SST), standard deviation of SST, surface chlorophyll concentration, seasurface height (SSH), and SSH root-mean-square variation. The resulting models, developed using new grid-based prediction methods, provide finer scale information on the distribution and density of cetaceans than previously available. Habitat-based abundance estimates around Hawaii are similar to those derived from standard line-transect analyses of the same data and provide enhanced spatial resolution to inform management and conservation of pelagic cetacean species.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
57 Data access URL https://cetsound.noaa.gov/packages/swfsc_CenPac_Forney_et_al_2015.zip
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/55531
0 Online Resource https://cetsound.noaa.gov
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/ost/dmp/pdf/55531.pdf
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/55531
0 Online Resource https://cetsound.noaa.gov
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/ost/dmp/pdf/55531.pdf
57 Data access URL https://cetsound.noaa.gov/packages/swfsc_CenPac_Forney_et_al_2015.zip
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
57 Data access URL https://cetsound.noaa.gov/packages/swfsc_CenPac_Forney_et_al_2015.zip
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/55531
0 Online Resource https://cetsound.noaa.gov
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2025. GCMD Keywords, Version 22. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/ost/dmp/pdf/55531.pdf

Tags

  • sperm whale
  • office of science & technology
  • spinner dolphin
  • distribution
  • stenella coeruleoalba
  • stenella attenuata
  • globicephala macrorhynchus
  • false killer whale
  • noaa
  • hawaii
  • steno bredanensis
  • bottlenose dolphin
  • density
  • pseudorca crassidens
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • tursiops truncatus
  • striped dolphin
  • national marine fisheries service
  • noaa cetaceans and sound project (cetsound)
  • balaenoptera edeni
  • short-finned pilot whale
  • pantropical spotted dolphin
  • bryde's whale
  • physeter macrocephalus
  • cetacean
  • rough-toothed dolphin
  • central pacific ocean
  • stenella longirostris
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/ost

Topics

Categories