17335 AFSC/NMML: Beluga whale aerial survey in Cook Inlet, Alaska, 1993-2022 Data Set Published / External 23107 Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program Project In Work 1993 The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted aerial counts of Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from 1993 to 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022. Nearly all counts were conducted during the month of June. The routine nature of these counts and the consistency in research protocol lend themselves to inter-annual trend analyses. Beginning in 2005, an aerial survey was added during the month of August to document calving groups within the upper Inlet (north of East and West Foreland). Research protocol has been based on paired observers on the shoreward side of the aircraft and a single observer and computer operator on the offshore side independently searching for marine mammals. Data on environmental conditions, time, location, species, and inclinometer angle were collected for each sighting. The counting protocol included multiple passes near each beluga group while simultaneously collecting video footage. The counting system and observer performance has been tested through paired, independent observational effort. Information about the Cook Inlet beluga whale projects conducted at NOAA can be found here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/beluga-whale#science. Aerial counts and video footage of beluga whales provide the fundamental data used to calculate the abundance of and a calving index for the Cook Inlet population. The abundance estimates are applied to trends analyses to determine the status of the stock. Results from this study were the basis for adding this distinct population of whales to the list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 6553, 07-16-2015 18:03 The following FGDC sections are not currently supported in InPort, but were preserved and will be included in the FGDC export: - Taxonomy (FGDC:taxonomy) Theme ISO 19115 Topic Category biota Theme ISO 19115 Topic Category oceans Theme abundance Theme aerial Theme distribution Theme photo Temporal summer Spatial Alaska Spatial Cook Inlet National Marine Mammal Laboratory Seattle WA United States Data Set Annually Table (digital) The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose. NOAA denies liability if the data are misused. NA Airplane NA 26007 GPSEffort Published / External In Work NA Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 6553, 07-16-2015 18:03 Data File NA DATE NUMBER No No Active Date 199306020000 - 201406120000 TIME NUMBER No No Active Time, AKDT 707 - 2212 FLIGHTNUMBER NUMBER No No Active Number of flight starting with 1 at the beginning of each survey period 1 - 18 EFFORT Unknown No No Active Type of effort (on or off) unknown LATITUDE NUMBER No No Active Position of aircraft (latitude) 58.8207173333334 - 62.2188333333333 LONGITUDE NUMBER No No Active Position of aircraft (longitude) -161.8443 - -148.29916667 SPEED_KNTS NUMBER No No Active Speed of aircraft (knots). Until 2006, recording Speed_KNTS was not a feature of the aerial survey software used to collect Cook Inlet beluga data. In 2006, new software recorded Speed_KNTS. 0 - 246 OPMODE Unknown No No Active OPMODE field was added in 2006. Three satellites were available and the position should be accurate to the level of the GPS unknown EFFORTMODE Unknown No No Active Description of survey area. This field was added in 2012 survey. unknown 26008 GroupPassMark Published / External In Work NA Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 6553, 07-16-2015 18:03 Data File NA DATE NUMBER No No Active Date 199306020000 - 201406120000 TIME NUMBER No No Active Time, AKDT 744 - 2129 GROUP Unknown No No Active Beluga whale group number beginning at 1 each survey day unknown PASS NUMBER No No Active Counting pass number of the beluga group 1 - 19 STATUS Unknown No No Active X=location over group, D=dimensions of group, S=start of counting pass, E=end of counting pass unknown 26010 Sightings Published / External In Work NA Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 6553, 07-16-2015 18:03 NA DATE NUMBER No No Active Date 199306020000 - 201406120000 TIME NUMBER No No Active Time, AKDT 744 - 2101 ANGLE NUMBER No No Active Clinometer angles were taken when on effort and as the marine mammal came abeam of the aircraft on the trackline. Sightings without angles occurred when off effort, circling to obtain identification and/or group size, or if the aircraft was turning and no longer level. 1 - 90 SPECIES Unknown No No Active Initials of scientific name (genus, species) of animals in a sighting unknown GROUPSIZE NUMBER No No Active Estimation of number of animals in group 0 - 700 OBSERVER Unknown No No Active Code of observer who made the sighting unknown 26011 Weather Published / External In Work NA Loaded by FGDC Metadata Uploader, batch 6553, 07-16-2015 18:03 Data File NA DATE NUMBER No No Active Date of data entry 199306020000 - 201406120000 TIME NUMBER No No Active Time of data entry, AKDT 733 - 2200 BEAUFORT NUMBER No No Active Beaufort sea state 0 - 6 OVERCAST NUMBER No No Active Percent cloud cover 0 - 100 LEFTGLARE Unknown No No Active Presence of glare on the left side of the plane (Y=Yes, N=No) unknown LEFTVISIBILITY Unknown No No Active Visibility condition for the left side of the plane (E=Excellent, G=Good, F=Fair, P=Poor, U=Useless) unknown RIGHTGLARE Unknown No No Active Presence of glare on the right side of the plane (Y=Yes, N=No) unknown RIGHTVISIBILITY Unknown No No Active Visibility condition for the right side of the plane (E=Excellent, G=Good, F=Fair, P=Poor, U=Useless) unknown Data Steward 1993 Person Shelden, Kim kim.shelden@noaa.gov Distributor 2015-07-16 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information NCEI ncei.info@noaa.gov https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/contact NCEI Contact Information Information for contacts at NCEI. Online Resource Originator 2015-07-16 Organization Alaska Fisheries Science Center AFSC afsc.webmaster@noaa.gov https://ror.org/01h7fye62 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Building 4 Seattle WA 98115 USA (206) 526-4000 (206) 526-4004 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/alaska-fisheries-science-center AKFSC Home Page Online Resource 0700-1700 Pacific Time Point of Contact 2015-07-16 Person Angliss, Robyn robyn.angliss@noaa.gov 7600 Sand Point Way, NE Seattle WA 98115-6349 206-526-4032 206-526-6615 Ground Condition -155 -148 62 58 Cook Inlet, Alaska Range 1993 2014 Unclassified Data can be accessed at http://data.nodc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0133936. There are no legal restrictions on access to the data. They reside in public domain and can be freely distributed. User must read and fully comprehend the metadata prior to use. Applications or inferences derived from the data should be carefully considered for accuracy. Acknowledgement of NOAA/NMFS/AFSC as the source from which these data were obtained, in any publications and/or other representations of these data, is suggested. https://data.nodc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0133936 2015-07-16 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 Cook Inlet beluga whale aerial survey data. csv (comma-separated values) CSV - Comma Separated Values (Text) https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/22918 Aerial surveys, distribution, abundance, and trend of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2018 Online Resource The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has conducted aerial surveys to estimate abundance of the beluga population in Cook Inlet, Alaska, each June, July, or both from 1993 to 2012, after which biennial surveys began in 2014. The current document presents survey results and subsequent analyses yielding an abundance estimate and population trend based on data collected during June 2018. https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/45364 Distribution of belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) in Cook Inlet, Alaska, June 2021 and June 2022 Online Resource Access Two observers were positioned on the shoreward side of the plane and one observer and a data recorder on the offshore side. During many of the surveys, an intercom system provided communication among the observers, data recorder, and pilots, but a selective listening device was used to aurally isolate each observer position. This ensured independent sighting collection to calculate correction factors for missed beluga groups. After reporting a beluga group, the team would go off effort and the plane would fly directly over the group to obtain a sighting location. A racetrack pattern was flown around the whale aggregation and the paired observers would tally the number of animals independently and assign an overall grade to the circling pass (A to F for excellent to poor). The pass quality was based on the overall visibility of the group (accounting for sea state, sighting distance, glare, and the condition of the observation window), irrespective of the number of whales at the surface. Once the two observers recorded four high quality passes (A or B), the crew would rotate and the remaining observer and data recorder would count until they also obtained four high quality passes. In most cases, there were 16 high quality counts for each group of belugas encountered. The number of counting passes was occasionally reduced when group sizes were small (less than 10 animals) or when air traffic precluded additional circling time. All data were recorded real-time into a Microsoft Access database by a specially-designed software program. Edits were performed at the end of each survey day for quality control purposes. All sighting data for species other than beluga whales were collected opportunistically and should be used with caution. On rare occasions (pre 2005) the GPS lost signal resulting in data gaps in the trackline data. After each survey day, data were quality controlled by checking all hand entered information from that day including weather, sightings, species, group sizes, observer position, and comment data for errors. No 0 Yes No Unknown NCEI-MD Unknown IT Security and Contingency Plan for the system establishes procedures and applies to the functions, operations, and resources necessary to recover and restore data as hosted in the Western Regional Support Center in Seattle, Washington, following a disruption. 1 NA 26007 Entity 26008 Entity 26010 Entity 26011 Entity gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:17335 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2012-12-21T17:01:58 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2026-03-04T19:17:18 2018-11-27 Alaska Fisheries Science Center AFSC 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Building 4 Seattle WA 98115 USA https://www.afsc.noaa.gov 0700-1700 Pacific Time 1001 Public No No 2018-11-27 1 Year 2019-11-27 none whale Kingdom Animalia Genus Delphinapterus Species leucas Beluga whale Comments NA AFSC DATE Date of comment AFSC 199306020000 201406120000 TIME Time of comment, AKDT AFSC 709 2211 COMMENTS Comment AFSC unknown GPSEffort NA AFSC DATE Date AFSC 199306020000 201406120000 TIME Time, AKDT AFSC 707 2212 FLIGHTNUMBER Number of flight starting with 1 at the beginning of each survey period AFSC 1 18 EFFORT Type of effort (on or off) AFSC unknown LATITUDE Position of aircraft (latitude) AFSC 58.8207173333334 62.2188333333333 LONGITUDE Position of aircraft (longitude) AFSC -161.8443 -148.29916667 SPEED_KNTS Speed of aircraft (knots) AFSC 0 246 OPMODE Three satellites were available and the position should be accurate to the level of the GPS AFSC unknown EFFORTMODE Description of survey area AFSC unknown GroupPassMark NA AFSC DATE Date AFSC 199306020000 201406120000 TIME Time, AKDT AFSC 744 2129 GROUP Beluga whale group number beginning at 1 each survey day AFSC unknown PASS Counting pass number of the beluga group AFSC 1 19 STATUS X=location over group, D=dimensions of group, S=start of counting pass, E=end of counting pass AFSC unknown Positions NA AFSC DATE Date AFSC 199306020000 201406120000 TIME Time, AKDT AFSC 724 2130 ROW1LEFTINIT Initial of observer in the Row 1, left side position AFSC unknown ROW1LEFTROLE Role of observer in the Row 1, Left side position (P=Pilot) AFSC unknown ROW1RIGHTINIT Initial of observer in the Row 1,right side position AFSC unknown ROW1RIGHTROLE Role of observer in the Row 1, right side position (P=Pilot, C=Co-pilot, O=Observer, R=Recorder, V=Visitor) AFSC unknown ROW2LEFTINIT Initial of observer in the Row 2, left side position AFSC unknown ROW2LEFTROLE Role of observer in the Row 2, left side position (O=Observer, V=Visitor) AFSC unknown ROW2RIGHTINIT Initial of observer in the Row 2, right side position AFSC unknown ROW2RIGHTROLE Role of observer in the Row 2, right side position (O=Observer, R=Recorder) AFSC unknown ROW3LEFTINIT Initial of observer in the row 3, left side position AFSC unknown ROW3LEFTROLE Role of observer in the Row 3, left side position (O=Observer, R=Recorder, V=Visitor, N=No role) AFSC unknown ROW3RIGHTINIT Initial of observer in the Row 3, right side position AFSC unknown ROW3RIGHTROLE Role of observer in the Row 3, right side position(O=Observer, R=Recorder, V=Visitor) AFSC unknown ROW4LEFTINIT Initial of observer in the row 4, left side position AFSC unknown ROW4LEFTROLE Role of observer in the Row 4, left side position (O=Observer, R=Recorder, V=Visitor) AFSC unknown ROW4RIGHTINIT Code of observer in the Row 4, right side position AFSC unknown ROW4RIGHTROLE Role of observer in the Row 4, right side position (O=Observer, R=Recorder, V=Visitor) AFSC unknown Sightings NA AFSC DATE Date AFSC 199306020000 201406120000 TIME Time, AKDT AFSC 744 2101 ANGLE Angle recorded to location of the sighting using an inclinometer AFSC 1 90 SPECIES > Initials of scientific name (genus, species) of animals in a sighting AFSC unknown GROUPSIZE Estimation of number of animals in group AFSC 0 700 OBSERVER Code of observer who made the sighting AFSC unknown BEST Best group size estimation of number of animals in group AFSC 0 400 Weather NA AFSC DATE Date of data entry AFSC 199306020000 201406120000 TIME Time of data entry, AKDT AFSC 733 2200 BEAUFORT Beaufort sea state AFSC 0 6 OVERCAST Percent cloud cover AFSC 0 100 LEFTGLARE Presence of glare on the left side of the plane (Y=Yes, N=No) AFSC unknown LEFTVISIBILITY Visibility condition for the left side of the plane (E=Excellent, G=Good, F=Fair, P=Poor, U=Useless) AFSC unknown RIGHTGLARE Presence of glare on the right side of the plane (Y=Yes, N=No) AFSC unknown RIGHTVISIBILITY Visibility condition for the right side of the plane (E=Excellent, G=Good, F=Fair, P=Poor, U=Useless) AFSC unknown