Seabird Monitoring undertaken during the Blue Whiting Acoustic Survey (BWAS) 2021

Category: Environment
Views: 11
Openness rating:

The purpose of this project was to count seabird species occurring in Irish waters. A standard line transect survey methodology was employed by the seabird observer with additional visual point sampling at fishing locations and oceanographic sampling stations during the Blue Whiting Acoustic Survey (BWAS) between 21st March and the 7th April 2021.

Data Resources (1)

SHP / ZIP
available as zip

Data Resource Preview - Unnamed resource

Theme Environment
Date released 2023-03-22
Date updated 2023-11-14
Dataset conforms to these standards The INSPIRE Directive or INSPIRE lays down a general framework for a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the purposes of European Community environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment.
Rights notes {https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/,"Copyright Government of Ireland. This dataset was created by National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. This copyright material is licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",otherRestrictions}
Update frequency Other
Language English
Geographic coverage in GeoJSON format {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-19.775390625, 49.071400165558],[-19.775390625, 60.585072040558], [-6.767578125, 60.585072040558], [-6.767578125, 49.071400165558], [-19.775390625, 49.071400165558]]]}
Spatial Reference Systems (SRS) WGS 84 (EPSG:4326)
Vertical Extent {"verticalDomainName": "EPSG Projection 5731 - Malin Head height", "minVerticalExtent": "0", "maxVerticalExtent": "1014"}
Provenance information he Cybertracker (https://cybertracker.org) data collection software package (Version 3.514) was configured for optimum use on the survey. Cybertracker was used to record all positional, environmental and seabird observation data. Using a portable GPS receiver with USB connection, the Cybertracker software automatically recorded the ships position directly into a Microsoft Access database every 5 seconds. Environmental data was regularly recorded using Cybertracker, including at the start of each seabird survey transect, and included data such as; wind speed, wind direction, sea state, swell, visibility, cloud cover and precipitation. The data was time stamped with GPS data by Cybertracker and saved in the Access database. If environmental conditions changed at any point, the seabird observer recorded an environmental update of the above listed data. Each line transect was assigned a unique transect number, and a new transect was started anytime the vessel activity changed (i.e. changing from on-transect to inter-transect). Each subsequent seabird observation was also assigned to this unique transect number. Ancillary information (such as line changes, changes in survey activity, other vessel activity, etc.) were also recorded on Cybertracker. The GPS position of each seabird record was time stamped and digitally marked using Cybertracker. Observational data such as; species identification, distance band, group size, composition, heading, age, moult, behaviour and any associations with cetaceans or other vessels were also recorded on the time stamped Cybertracker sighting record page. Where species identification could not be confirmed, observations were recorded at an appropriate taxonomic level (i.e. large gull sp., Larus sp., commic tern, etc.). Additional visual point sampling was conducted at oceanographic sampling stations and fishing shoot/haul locations. Point sampling survey effort for seabirds was conducted in 360 o arc around the vessel. Data recording methodology remained similar for both point sampling and line transect methods.
Period of time covered (begin) 2021-03-21
Period of time covered (end) 2021-04-07