Alaska Harbor Seal Haul-out Locations
Aerial surveys of coastal Alaska are the primary method for estimating abundance of harbor seals. A particular challenge associated with aerial surveys of harbor seals is maintaining consistent spatial representation of haul-out locations (waypoints). In some cases, seals aggregate into a single large grouping at a particular area. In other cases, seals aggregate into several smaller groups spread over a particular area. To establish geo-spatial consistency, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) maintains a list of haul-out locations that represent known harbor seal aggregations in Alaska. Haul-out locations were identified through aerial survey efforts and historical knowledge. Locations are assigned a unique alphanumeric identifier, based on the survey unit they fall within, and the spatial data are provided in the geographic (epsg:4326) coordinate reference system. These haul-out locations are used to inform management decisions pertaining to coastal activities (presence/absence of seals in a particular area) and to facilitate AFSC field work that includes both aerial and vessel surveys. Haul-out locations are updated annually based on information obtained from aerial survey observations. This dataset contains Alaska harbor seal haul-out locations that are recorded primarily to support aerial survey efforts in August and (in some areas, June). Harbor seals are known to use various haul-out locations seasonally and, thus, this is likely not a complete collection of harbor seal haul-out locations. Some haul-outs that are close together may be combined and represented as one site or waypoint. Important haul-out locations have been identified in the "status" field of the attribute table and are labeled as "key haulout" if a particular location contains 50 or more harbors seals. A haul-out location containing less than 50 harbor seals is labeled "not key haulout". This number may change as more in depth analysis continues.
Complete Metadata
| @type | dcat:Dataset |
|---|---|
| accessLevel | non-public |
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| description | Aerial surveys of coastal Alaska are the primary method for estimating abundance of harbor seals. A particular challenge associated with aerial surveys of harbor seals is maintaining consistent spatial representation of haul-out locations (waypoints). In some cases, seals aggregate into a single large grouping at a particular area. In other cases, seals aggregate into several smaller groups spread over a particular area. To establish geo-spatial consistency, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) maintains a list of haul-out locations that represent known harbor seal aggregations in Alaska. Haul-out locations were identified through aerial survey efforts and historical knowledge. Locations are assigned a unique alphanumeric identifier, based on the survey unit they fall within, and the spatial data are provided in the geographic (epsg:4326) coordinate reference system. These haul-out locations are used to inform management decisions pertaining to coastal activities (presence/absence of seals in a particular area) and to facilitate AFSC field work that includes both aerial and vessel surveys. Haul-out locations are updated annually based on information obtained from aerial survey observations. This dataset contains Alaska harbor seal haul-out locations that are recorded primarily to support aerial survey efforts in August and (in some areas, June). Harbor seals are known to use various haul-out locations seasonally and, thus, this is likely not a complete collection of harbor seal haul-out locations. Some haul-outs that are close together may be combined and represented as one site or waypoint. Important haul-out locations have been identified in the "status" field of the attribute table and are labeled as "key haulout" if a particular location contains 50 or more harbors seals. A haul-out location containing less than 50 harbor seals is labeled "not key haulout". This number may change as more in depth analysis continues. |
| distribution |
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|
| identifier | gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:26760 |
| issued | 2015-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| keyword |
[
"Harbor Seal",
"Alaska",
"Aleutian Islands",
"Bristol Bay",
"Gulf of Alaska",
"aerial survey",
"haul-out locations",
"DOC/NOAA/NMFS/AFSC > Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce",
"Alaska Harbor Seal Surveys and Abundance"
]
|
| landingPage | https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/26760 |
| language |
[]
|
| license | https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ |
| modified | 2015-01-01T00:00:00.000+00:00 |
| publisher |
{
"name": "Alaska Fisheries Science Center",
"@type": "org:Organization"
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|
| references |
[
"https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/afsc/dmp/pdf/26760.pdf"
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|
| rights | otherRestrictions, unclassified |
| spatial | -130.0,51.0,172.0,61.5 |
| title | Alaska Harbor Seal Haul-out Locations |