| Summary: | This dataset describes Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) utilization of the Chukchi sea by tracking walruses and their hourly foraging behavior from June through November using satellite-linked tags during years of sparse sea ice (2008-2011). To estimate the density of walrus foraging on a monthly basis, a movement-based kernel density estimator application was used to predict walrus utilization over a 5 km resolution grid encompassing the Chukchi Sea. It generated utilization density contours from the gridded utilization distribution. The utilization density contours are provided for environmental planning purposes and may only be understood within the context of the published manuscript. This dataset is part of the Pacific Marine Arctic Regional Synthesis (PacMARS) Project. Data is structured by month, which ranges from June through November. Within each month walrus foraging utilization distributions were estimated by weighting the kernel density distribution by the amount of time spent foraging during each recorded track segment. Presented are contour intervals ranging from 10th to 95th percentile in the geographically referenced Portable Network Graphic files and shape files referenced below in the related links. See also: Jay, C. V., Fischbach, A.S., Kochnev, A.A., 2012. Walrus areas of use in the Chukchi Sea during sparse sea ice cover, journal article, Marine Ecology Progress Series, 466, doi: 10.3354/meps10057.
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