74823 Data Set Published / External 21154 Cetacean visual observations and environmental parameters collected by CTD and other instruments onboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter (GU) in the Gulf of Mexico, for the Trophic Interactions and Habitat Requirements of Gulf of Mexico Rices Whales project (RESTORE survey GU-18-06) from 2018-11-11 to 2018-12-03 (NCEI Accession 0301293) Project Completed 2025 As part of a Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies (RESTORE) Science Program project, the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), in collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and Florida International University (FIU), conducted a shipboard survey in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (GoMx) from 2018-11-11 to 2018-12-03. Operations occurred in waters where Rices whales (Balaenoptera ricei) were previously sighted, between the 180 m and 400 m isobaths from the Florida panhandle to Tampa. The survey was designed with a focus on baleen whales, although sightings of other species were opportunistically recorded. A sighting constituted a single or group of marine mammals (whales and dolphins) seen at the same location and time. This dataset includes marine mammal visual observation data and effort points with surveying conditions, opportunistic marine mammal photographs, and non-marine mammal sightings (a.k.a. occurrences) such as sea turtles. Raw files from conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) casts performed on a daily basis during the survey are also available. This was the second in a series of research cruises dedicated to collect information on Rices whales (Balaenoptera ricei) in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Goals included deploying telemetry tags and conducting visual surveys to understand Rices whale spatial distribution What is published is correct but not complete Cite as: Garrison, Lance; Soldevilla, Melissa; Mullin, Keith; Hildebrand, John; Heithaus, Michael; Kiszka, Jeremy; Martinez, Anthony; Rappucci, Gina; Dias, Laura A. (2025). Cetacean visual observations and environmental parameters collected by CTD and other instruments onboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter (GU) in the Gulf of America, for the Trophic Interactions and Habitat Requirements of Gulf of America Rice’s Whales project (RESTORE survey GU1806) from 2018-11-11 to 2018-12-03 (NCEI Accession 0301293). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/hp26-vh80. Accessed [date]. Funding Agency: US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Southeast Fisheries Science Center Funding Agency: US DOC; NOAA; NOS; National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science 10.25921/hp26-vh80 NOAA Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords DOC/NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC > Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MARINE MAMMALS Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MARINE MAMMALS > DOLPHINS Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > BATHYMETRY/SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY > WATER DEPTH Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY > OXYGEN Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > CONDUCTIVITY Theme Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Science Keywords EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY Theme Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Balaenoptera Theme Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Balaenoptera physalus Theme Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Balaenoptera ricei Theme Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Tursiops truncatus Spatial Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Location Keywords OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF AMERICA Instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords BIG EYE BINOCULARS Instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords CTD > Conductivity, Temperature, Depth Instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords Distance Sampling Instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords Line Transect Sampling Instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords VIDEO CAMERA > VIDEO CAMERA Instrument Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Instrument Keywords VISUAL OBSERVATIONS > VISUAL OBSERVATIONS Platform Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Platform Keywords Ships Theme DOI 10.25921/hp26-vh80 Theme NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER 0301293 Theme NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Southeast Fisheries Science Center; Miami, FL Laboratory Theme NODC COLLECTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Southeast Fisheries Science Center; Pascagoula/Stennis, MS Laboratory Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS ANIMALS - GROUP - NUMBER IN GROUP Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS MARINE MAMMALS Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS Oxygen Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS SPECIES IDENTIFICATION Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS SPECIES IDENTIFICATION - COUNT Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS Salinity Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS biological data Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS cetacean Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS fisheries Theme NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS water depth Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS biological Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS in situ Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS marine mammal observation Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS survey - biological Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS visual estimate Theme NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS visual observation Theme NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS US DOC; NOAA; NMFS; Southeast Fisheries Science Center; Miami, FL Laboratory Theme Project Name Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies (RESTORE) Science Program Theme Project Name University of Miami's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) Theme Send2NCEI Submission Package ID EGW4NJ Theme Rice's whale Temporal 2018 Spatial NODC DATA TYPES THESAURUS WATER TEMPERATURE Spatial NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS Gulf Of America Spatial NODC SEA AREA NAMES THESAURUS Gulf Of Mexico Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS BIG EYE BINOCULARS Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS CTD Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS Distance Sampling Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS line transect sampling Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS photograph Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS video camera Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS visual estimate Instrument NODC INSTRUMENT TYPES THESAURUS visual observation Platform ICES/SeaDataNet Ship Codes GORDON GUNTER (call sign: WTEO, ICES code: 33GG, 1998-) Platform NODC PLATFORM NAMES THESAURUS NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter National Centers for Environmental Information - Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring MD Data Set Multimedia (digital) 75394 Published / External Completed Directory Containing Raw CTD Files - *.XMLCON - configuration file in XML format - *.bl - metadata concerning the bottle trips; ascii text - *.hdr - header metadata about the cast; ascii text - *.hex - raw hexadecimal data from the instrumentation during the cast; ascii text - *.mrk - marker file containing sequential mark number, system time, and data for selected output variables Other Raw CTD Files 75404 Published / External Completed file providing data for sightings. The main goal is to provide species identification for sightings, among other data. Note: Sightings and additional observations are uniquely identified by occurrenceID. E.g.: 1_444_40: sighting number 1; 1_613_1006: observation (non-marine mammal) number 1. Data Table Yes file providing measurement data for effort points and sightings. Refer to the measurementMethod column for a description of or reference to the method used to determine the measurement. 10 eventID Character Yes Yes Active Primary Key which is a concatenation of either 'e' or 's' and the ' _' and a sequential number for the number of measurements for the day and the ' _' and the date the measurement was taken in the format DD-MON-YY s_5_2-Jun-04 20 occurrenceID Character Yes No Active occurrenceID NA 25 verbatimIdentification character Yes No Active Animal As identified by data collector 30 individualCount Numeric Yes No Active Number Identified 35 associatedMedia Character Yes No Active Indicates whether there is any media associated with this record 40 recordedBy Character Yes No Active concatenation of the number corresponding to the recorder of the data and the initials of the data collector. 45 vernacularName Character Yes No Active Animal As identified by data collector 50 scientificNameID Character Yes No Active Indicates where taxonomic name is found 55 scientificName Character Yes No Active Actual Scientific name of identified animal 60 scientificNameAuthorship Character Yes No Active historical reference to scientific identification 65 identificationRemarks Character Yes No Active An optional remark on the taxonomic species 70 identificationReferences Character Yes No Active Reference For The Species Identification 75 occurrenceRemarks Character No No Active Optional Collector supplied comment about occurrence record 80 occurrenceStatus Character Yes No Active Occurrence status which always has a value of present present 75410 Published / External Completed This directory contains the media in .jpg, .MOV, and .mp4 formats embedded with the exchangeable image file (EXIF) metadata recorded by the cameras (e.g., time, date, camera settings) as well as metadata tags specific to the research and survey (e.g., project name, permit number). Media are taken opportunistically with project and personal cameras and may include photos and videos of marine mammals and other organisms seen during the sighting or survey. Photos are organized by collection date and divided into subdirectories by the observer team (designated by location on the ship) responsible for collecting the media or by the photographer's name, with additional nested folders that correspond to the sighting number. For example, the nested file structure for photos may be as follows: For example, the nested file structure for photos may be as follows: YYYY_MM_DD o FB (vessel's flying bridge) Sighting_XXX o LastName_FirstName Sighting_XXX Other Yes Nested Directories of jpeg files For example, the nested file structure for photos may be as follows: ● YYYY_MM_DD o YYYY_MM_DD_R5 ▪ Sighting_XXX o YYYY_MM_DD_LastName_FirstName ▪ Sighting_XXX 75411 Published / External Completed file providing data for sightings and samples (Occurrence). Main goal is to provide species identification for sightings and samples and group size counts for sightings (individualCount), among other data. Sightings are uniquely identified by occurrenceID and samples by materialSampleID. E.g.: 1_15-Apr-04: sighting number 1 from 15-Apr-04; GU-20040415-07-01: sample number 1 (01) collected on the Gordon Gunter (GU), on 15-Apr-04 (20040415), under sighting number 7 (07). Data Table Yes Provides data for sightings and samples (Occurrence). Main goal is to provide species identification for sightings and samples and group size counts for sightings (individualCount), among other data. 5 parentEventID Character Yes Yes Active Eventid of parent record. s_5_2-Jun-04 10 eventid Character Yes No Active eventid. Consists of Character 1 based on basisofrecord column Character 2 always a _ (underline) Up to next 4 characters (The sequential number of the record having the same basisofrecord value) next comes _ (underline) next comes DD-MM-YY (8 characters for sampling/collection date) 20 eventdate date Yes No Active Standardized Sampling Date/time 30 verbatimeventdate date Yes No Active Local Sampling Date/Time 40 decimalLatitude Numeric Yes No Active Latitudinal Value For Effort Records it is built by concatenating the left observer left observer number, right observer, right observer number, data recorder and data recorder number. For 50 decimalLongitude Numeric Yes No Active Longitudinal Value 60 eventtype Character Yes No Active The value of the measurement, fact, characteristic, or assertion It may be effortPoint cue sighting biopsySample 70 basisOfRecord Character Yes No Active The nature of the measurement, fact, characteristic, or assertion. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary. Values are Event Occurrence MaterialSample Event Occurrence MaterialSample 90 samplingProtocol character Yes No Active url of sampling protocol 95 eventRemarks Character No No Active User Supplied Optional Comment about event record 100 datasetName Character Yes No Active Name of Dataset Always NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter Vessel Survey for Abundance and Distribution 2023 (GU2303) 110 bibliographicCitation character Yes No Active Bibliographic Citation Of Data Collection 120 Year Numeric Yes No Active Year of Data Collection 130 country Character Yes No Active Country of Data Collection 140 countryCode Character Yes No Active Two character Country Code 150 locality Character Yes No Active Waters of Sampling 170 higherGeography Character Yes No Active higherGeography 180 higherGeographyID Character Yes No Active url of higher geography 190 geodeticDatum Character Yes No Active geodeticDatum 200 verbatimCoordinateSystem Character Yes No Active verbatimCoordinateSystem 210 institutionCode Character Yes No Active Code corresponding to institutionID 220 institutionID Character Yes No Active iROR is a global, community-led registry of open persistent identifiers for research organizations. This value points to ROR institution collecting the data. (Always value resolving to NOAA SEFSC) 230 accessRights Character Yes No Active Description of accessRights/date use to the record in question 240 license Character Yes No Active url describing license of data use 250 references Character Yes No Active url of document describing sampling 260 language Character Yes No Active language 270 modified Date Yes No Active Date Record Was Last Modified 75412 Published / External Completed file providing measurement data for effort points and sightings. Refer to measurementMethod for a description of or reference to the method used to determine the measurement Data Table Yes file providing measurement data for effort points and sightings. Refer to the measurementMethod column for a description of or reference to the method used to determine the measurement. 10 eventID Character Yes Yes Active Primary Key which is a concatenation of either 'e' or 's' and the ' _' and a sequential number for the number of measurements for the day and the ' _' and the date the measurement was taken in the format DD-MON-YY s_5_2-Jun-04 20 occurrenceID Character Yes No Active occurrenceID NA 25 measurementType character Yes No Active The nature of the measurement, fact, characteristic, or assertion. Recommended best practice is to use a controlled vocabulary. 30 measurementvalue Numeric Yes No Active The value of the measurement, fact, characteristic, or assertion 35 measurementUnit Character Yes No Active Measurement Units 40 measurementMethod Character Yes No Active Indicates The Methodology Used To Determine The Measurement 45 measurementDeterminedBy Character Yes No Active Indicates Those Who Determined Measurement Author 2018 Person Mullin, Keith D keith.d.mullin@noaa.gov https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4094-9718 3209 Frederic St. Pascagoula MS 39568 228-549-1632 228-769-9200 Author 2018 2025-02 Person Martinez, Anthony anthony.martinez@noaa.gov 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 USA 305-361-4486 305-361-4478 Author 2018 Person Hildebrand, John jahildebrand@ucsd.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5418-9799 9500 Gilman Dr #0205 La Jolla CA 92093-0205 858/534-4069 (858)534-6849 https://jahildebrand.scrippsprofiles.ucsd.edu/ Scripps Profile Page of john hildebrand of University of California San Diego Online Resource Author 2018 Person Kiszka , Jeremy jkiszka@fiu.edu 305-919-5234 https://marineconservationecologylab.com/ Homepage FIU Marine Conservation Lab Online Resource Author 2018 Person Heithaus, Michael heithaus@fiu.edu 11200 S.W. 8th Street, ECS 458 Miami FL 33199 305-348-2864 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=g_NpLmgAAAAJ Google Scholar Page Michael Heithaus Online Resource Data Steward 2018 Person Soldevilla, Melissa melissa.soldevilla@noaa.gov 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 USA 305-361-4238 Distributor 2025 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 Metadata Contact 2025 Person Rappucci, Gina gina.rappucci@noaa.gov https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5828-4024 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 (305) 361-4283 Originator 2018 Organization Southeast Fisheries Science Center SEFSC https://ror.org/0396y0w87 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 USA (305)361-5761 https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about/southeast-fisheries-science-center About SEFSC Online Resource 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST Point of Contact 2025 Person Dias, Laura A laura.dias@noaa.gov https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9378-4577 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 (305) 361-4269 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9378-4577 ORCID Page Laura Dias Online Resource Principal Investigator 2018-11 Person Garrison, Lance Lance.Garrison@noaa.gov 75 Virginia Beach Dr Miami FL 33149 305-361-4488 305-361-4478 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM EST/EDT Publisher 2025 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 -87.35783 -84.65517 29.80483 27.57117 Range 2018-11-11 2018-12-03 Standard CC0-1.0 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ These data were produced by NOAA and are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. NOAA waives any potential copyright and related rights in these data worldwide through the Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication (CC0-1.0). Unclassified Open to everyone Download from provided links None Cite as: Garrison, Lance; Soldevilla, Melissa; Mullin, Keith; Hildebrand, John; Heithaus, Michael; Kiszka, Jeremy; Martinez, Anthony; Rappucci, Gina; Dias, Laura A. (2025). Cetacean visual observations and environmental parameters collected by CTD and other instruments onboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter (GU) in the Gulf of Mexico, for the Trophic Interactions and Habitat Requirements of Gulf of Mexico Rice’s Whales project (RESTORE survey GU1806) from 2018-11-11 to 2018-12-03 (NCEI Accession 0301293). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Unpublished Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0301293 None please credit https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/archive-management-system/OAS/bin/prd/jquery/accession/download/301293 2025 Organization NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information https://ror.org/04r0wrp59 301293. Too big for bulk download. Web Service (Other) 7020.584 MB https://restoreactscienceprogram.noaa.gov/projects/rices-whales Rice's Whales RESTORE Science Program: Rice's Whales -- Trophic Interactions and Habitat Requirements of Gulf of Mexico Rice's Whales https://rs.gbif.org/extension/obis/extended_measurement_or_fact_2023-08-28.xml approved Extended Measurement Or Facts (eMoF) extension used to describe data files Online Resource The .csv files of the dataset was formatted under the Darwin Core standard (https: //dwc.tdwg.org/ using above eMof https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/southeast/endangered-species-conservation/trophic-interactions-and-habitat-requirements-gulf-mexico Developing a comprehensive ecological understanding of the endangered Rice's whale, formerly known as Gulf of Mexico Bryde's whale. Online Resource Project website NOAA Fisheries, Endangered Species Conservation: Trophic Interactions and Habitat Requirements of Gulf of Mexico Rice's Whales https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0301293 Landing Page NCEI Accession 0301293 Online Resource CTD instrument CTD Conductivity-Temperature-Depth probe NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter The Gordon Gunter primarily serves the NMFS Pascagoula Laboratory in Mississippi. The Gordon Gunter is a 224-ft. multi-use platform. It is equipped with a thermosalinograph, CTD, fluorometer, and other oceanographic instruments that monitor atmospheric and oceanic conditions while traveling. A variety of research gears are deployed from the vessel including stern trawling, longlining, plankton tows, and dredging. The Gordon Gunter operates in all three SEFSC research areas. CTD instrument CTD Conductivity-Temperature-Depth probe 75393 Document 75392 Document 74824 Document 75396 Document 75395 Document 75397 Document 75412 Entity 75411 Entity 75404 Entity 75410 Entity 75394 Entity gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:74823 Lee Weinberger 2025-02-03T16:39:37 SysAdmin InPortAdmin 2026-08-19T18:37:09 2025-03-28 Southeast Fisheries Science Center SEFSC 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami FL 33149 USA (305)361-5761 www.sefsc.noaa.gov 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST 1001 Public No No 1 Year