AFSC/NMML/CCEP: Food habits of Steller sea lions in Washington, 1993 - 1999

From 1993 to 1999, The National Marine Mammal Laboratories' California Current Ecosystem Program (AFSC/NOAA) collected fecal samples from Steller sea lions in Washington to examine their diet. Most of the collections are from sites on the northern coast of Washington where Steller sea lions are most common and abundant.

The purpose of this dataset is to examine food habits for Steller sea lions in Washington to investigate changes in their diets, as well as to investigate potential impacts to commercial and/or sport fisheries.

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Cite data as: Gearin, P., Jeffries, S. 2016. Food habits studies of Steller sea lions in Washington, California conducted by Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory from 1993-05-01 to 1999-10-01 (NCEI Accession 0145304). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Tables include information about the taxa identification, presence, number, size, etc. found in pinniped scat, stomach, enema, or lavage samples collected in Washington State. See "Child Items" for more detailed information.

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. Applications or inferences derived from the data should be carefully considered for accuracy. Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.

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The dataset is archived with the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). 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. Communication and collaboration with dataset authors is strongly encouraged prior to use.

The dataset is available for download via the NCEI Ocean Archive System at http://accession.nodc.noaa.gov/0145304.

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. Data should be cited as: Cite data as: Gearin, P., Jeffries, S. 2016. Food habits studies of Steller sea lions in Washington, California conducted by Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory from 1993-05-01 to 1999-10-01 (NCEI Accession 0145304). NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

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Metadata are subject to revision at any time and information within the metadata record should not be cited without author consent. Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.

Microsoft Access

Not applicable.

Identifications and size measurements of prey were double checked before transcription. Difficult prey identifications were verified by an expert. Data entered into database were cross-checked with transcribed data (exact information for each field, number of entries). Edits were made for duplicates and misspellings.

Data not automatically processed

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.

Samples were collected at Steller sea lion haulout sites in Washington Fecal samples were cleaned. Prey hard parts were separated from waste material using nested sieves and subsequently identified to the lowest taxon possible. Sizes of prey were determined from measurements of fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks using calipers or ocular micrometer. Measurements were used to estimate prey size from published regression equations. Data were entered into a database. Data analyses were performed to address research questions about Steller sea lion diet.