Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for whales, dolphins, pinnipeds, and manatees in North Carolina. Vector polygons (MARINE MAMMAL POLYS) in this data set represent migration, calving areas, general distribution, and seal haul out areas. Species-specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in associated data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. This data set is a portion of the ESI data for North Carolina. As a whole, the ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil, and include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

This reflects the extent of all land and water features included in the overall North Carolina ESI study region. The bounding box for this particular feature class may vary depending on occurrences identified and mapped.

Process Steps:

• 2016-11-01 00:00:00 - Marine mammals depicted in this feature class include cetaceans (whales, porpoise, and dolphins), pinnipeds, and the West Indian manatee. Marine mammals displayed in inland waters (sounds, rivers, and bays) are restricted to the bottlenose dolphin and West Indian manatee, although whales, spotted dolphins, and seals may occur in inland waters on occasion. The location of the faunal transition zone near Cape Hatteras results in a high biodiversity of marine mammals that could potentially be found in the atlas area (Byrd et. al. 2014). However, many of these species typically occur farther offshore and were not mapped due to their rarity in the AOI. The general distribution of marine mammals along the outer coast of North Carolina was mapped using large polygons delineated by 10-m and 20-m isobaths and further divided at the capes (Cape Fear, Cape Lookout, and Cape Hatteras). Concentration values of \x93High\x94, \x93Med\x94, and \x93Low\x94 were determined using habitat-based cetacean density maps (Roberts et al. 2016) and reflect the concentration of each species relative to its East coast-wide abundance. For seasonally present species that had monthly abundance estimates, the month of peak abundance in North Carolina was used to determine concentration values, otherwise year-round mean density maps were used. Cetaceans - Biologically Important Areas (BIAs; LaBrecque et al. 2015) for the bottlenose dolphin and North Atlantic right whale were used to map the distributions of these species. In North Carolina, two small, estuarine stocks of bottlenose dolphin occur: the Northern North Carolina Estuarine Stock (NNCES) and the Southern North Carolina Estuarine (SNCES) Stock. These populations occupy sounds, rivers, and bays, and nearshore waters in warmer months and move into nearshore waters in late fall through winter where they likely overlap with the Northern Migratory Stock of bottlenose dolphins. The North Atlantic right whale, a state and federally endangered species, has both calving and migration BIAs in the North Carolina atlas area. The North Atlantic right whale calving BIA expands on the federally designated Critical Habitat calving grounds for this species, and the migratory corridor BIA encompasses the entire offshore area. Manatees - The distribution of the West Indian manatee (state and federally endangered) was mapped using published data and expert knowledge in addition to North Carolina Natural Heritage Program vector data. The West Indian manatee is found in sounds, rivers, and bays during the warmer months from March to November. It also uses nearshore areas up to a quarter mile from the outer coast (Cummings, pers. comm.). Pinnipeds - Seals occur annually in low numbers in North Carolina in colder months through the spring. Harbor seals, and rarely, gray, harp, and hooded seals, use the inlets and adjacent sandbars and sandy beaches as feeding and haul-out sites. Oregon Inlet supports the highest number of seals, but they can also be found on Cape Point at Cape Hatteras (LeGrand and Howard 2013). Seals may be found throughout the outer coast of North Carolina, but are more common north of Cape Lookout. A seal haul-out area was mapped at Oregon Inlet using a 100 m onshore/offshore buffer. See the Lineage section for additional information on the type of source data for this data layer. The ESI, biology, and human-use data are compiled into the standard ESI digital data format. A second set of interviews with participating resource experts are conducted to review the compiled data. If necessary, edits to the M_MAMMAL data layer are made based on the recommendations of the resource experts and digital data are created.

Data can be accessed by downloading the zipped ArcGIS geodatabase from the Download URL (see Distribution Information). Questions can be directed to the ESI Program Manager (Point Of Contact).