A Dataset from Bio-loggers Deployed on Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in Cook Inlet, Alaska (2004-2007)

• Main Authors: Josh London, Peter Boveng
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Research Workspace 2019
• Subjects: Phoca vitulina richardii; Phoca vitulina; Foca común, phoque commun, Harbor Seal; Foca; foca común; harbor seal; phoque commun; Alaska
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/10.24431_rw1k31y_2019102219219

Between 2004 and 2006 we conducted four harbor seal tagging trips in Cook Inlet during the months of October and May. In total, we captured and released 93 harbor seals, 77 of which were tagged with satellite transmitters. Each transmitter was glued to the hair on the back of the seal using durable epoxy. Fourteen of the seals were also equipped with specially developed transmitters that were attached to one of the rear flippers. Transmissions from the 91 tags resulted in 178,536 location estimates and 310,593 dive and haul-out behavior records. These data formed the basis for the development of novel analysis techniques. Johnson et al. (2008) described a novel continuous-time correlated random walk (CTCRW) method for predicting animal locations from satellite tags. Higgs and Ver Hoef (2011) described a new statistical method for analyzing dive behavior based on dive histogram recordings obtained from satellite tags. The data files within this dataset represent the 'raw' data obtained from the Wildlife Computers data portal. Each deployment (unique tag id + animal id combination) is provided as a zipped archive. The root folder also includes additional documentation. The various files and detailed column descriptions are described in the 'Spreadsheet-File-Descriptions.pdf' which was downloaded from Wildlife Computers (https://wildlifecomputers.com/support/downloads/). The '00_cookinletpv_get_data.Rmd' file is an RMarkdown file that provides code and documentation of the data retrieval process. The corresponding '00_cookinlet_get_data.hml' file is autogenerated from the RMarkdown file.