Marine mammal relative abundance, seasonal use locations, and use type data used in the creation of Audubon Alaska's Ecological Atlas of the Chukchi, Bering, and Beaufort Seas

• Main Author: Audubon Alaska
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Axiom Data Science 2019
• Subjects: Oceana; Chukchi; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24431/rw1k322; https://search.dataone.org/#view/10.24431/rw1k322

This dataset contains a variety of spatial data types describing seasonal use locations, use types, and migration patters for marine mammals in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. These datasets were used by staff at Audubon Alaska and Oceana to create the twenty maps displayed in 'Chapter 6: Mammals', in the 'Ecological Atlas of the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas'. These maps display seasonal use areas; approximate range extents; haul out, rookery, forage and locations; and general migration patterns for polar bears, and for a variety of pinnipeds and cetaceans that occupy the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. This dataset contains four zipped archives of spatial data and metadata and two summary files. The zip files are: 1. ArcticMarine2017_Public_Ch6Mammals.gdb.zip, compiled by Audubon Alaska staff and used to generate the maps in Chapter 6 of the Ecological Atlas. 2. ch6_vector-4326, containing csv formatted vector data files along with metadata extracted from the geodatabase. 3. ch6_raster, containing geotiff formatted raster data and metadata used in the maps in the Atlas but not included in the geodatabase. 4. ch6_shapefiles, containing updated versions of some of the vector or raster layers in the geodatabase, as delivered separately by Audubon, and without individual metadata records. The summary files are: 1. audubon_EABCBS_ch6_mammals_manifest.txt, listing all file path, size, and md5sum hash value for each file in each of the zip files, 2. audubon_EABCBS_ch6_mammals_README.txt, providing basic, human-readable metadata about the dataset, 3. audubon_EABCBS_ch6_mammals_data_sources.pdf, listing the data sources used for each map in chapter 6 of the atlas, and 4. audubon_EABCBS_data_sources_appendix.csv, listing the sources used for each spatial synthesis data product created by Audubon Alaska, used to generate the maps in chapter 6, and listed in the data sources pdf. These files contain only the data used in the Atlas and deemed appropriate for public release. Certain data deemed sensitive were not included in these publicly available data archives.