Data Management Plan (Deprecated)

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for whales, dolphins, porpoises, and seals in the New York/New Jersey Metro Area, Hudson River, and South Long Island region. Vector polygons in this data set represent seal haul-outs and marine mammal concentration, migration, and general distributions. 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 the the NY/NJ Metro Area, Hudson River, and South Long Island region. 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.

Process Steps:

• 2015-11-01 00:00:00 - Step 1. Selectng marine mammal species and data sources. Three main sources of data were used to depict marine mammal distribution and seasonality for this data layer: 1) digital/tabular data sets provided by Gotham Whale, Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island, Riverhead Foundation, NatureServe (NJ), and Duke University Marine Lab (DUKE)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); 2) unpublished reports from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation(NYSDEC)/New York Natural Heritage Program (NY NHP); and 3) expert knowledge from resource experts. Marine mammals depicted in this atlas include whales, dolphins, porpoises, and seals.
• 2015-11-01 00:00:00 - Step 2. Developing ESI data for pinniped species. Harbor seals may be found in the Hudson River as far north as Albany, but only their concentration areas were mapped. Seal concentration areas were mapped using digital data and expert knowledge. Haul-out sites were buffered by 100 m to increase the visibility of these locations on the map as well as to account for seals. sensitivity to human disturbance. Areas where seals aggregate adjacent to haul-outs, such as inlets, were mapped as high concentration areas. Concentration values for haul-outs are based on survey data and interviews with experts. These values reflect either the typical range or average number of seals present at a site during the peak season. There are five major haul-outs on the south shore of Long Island: Montauk Point, Shinnecock Bay, Cupsogue Beach (Moriches Inlet), Democrat Point, and Haunts Creek (Jones Inlet). Seals also regularly haul out on Swinburne Island in Raritan Bay. Sandy Hook contains two major haul-outs; Skeleton Hill Island and Officer.s Row. At the request of Gateway National Recreation Area, seals were mapped as occasionally hauled out on the eastern shore of Sandy Hook, but this is not a major site.
• 2015-11-01 00:00:00 - Step 3. Developing ESI data for cetacean species. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) that may occur in NY and NJ waters that were mapped in this atlas include: bottlenose dolphin (NJ state special concern), harbor porpoise (state special concern), fin whale (state and federally endangered), humpback whale (state and federally endangered), and north Atlantic right whale (state and federally endangered). Sei, blue, and sperm whales (all state and federally endangered) are rarely known to occur within the mapped Area of Interest (AOI) and were not mapped. Marine mammals with no status listing (state or federally endangered, threatened, or of concern) were only mapped if there were known concentration areas. Common dolphins and minke whales may frequent NY/NJ waters, but because there were no known concentration areas for these species, they were not mapped. Due to their wide-ranging habits and lack of known concentration areas, cetaceans were mapped using general distributions with the exception of two Biologically Important Areas identified by Duke/NOAA. These areas consist of a fin whale foraging concentration near Montauk Point and a right whale migratory corridor. Humpback whales were added to the Montauk foraging concentration area using expert knowledge. Cetaceans may be present year-round, but there are seasonal changes in their abundance and distribution. Cetacean concentrations and seasonality were derived from NJDEP Ocean/Wind Power Baseline Studies Final Report (2010) and NYSDEC/NY NHP Baseline Monitoring of Large Whales in the New York Bight (2014), and reviewed by resource experts.
• 2015-11-01 00:00:00 - Step 4. Developing the M_MAMMAL feature class. Depending on the type of source data, two general approaches are used for compiling the data layer: 1) digital data layers are evaluated and used "as is" or integrated with the ESI base map features (ESIP, HYDROP, ESIL) 2) information gathered during initial interviews and reports are compiled and digitized using ESI base map features. 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).