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Sea Trust Stena Europe Survey of Cetaceans in the St George's Channel, April 2004- April 2011
Citation
Sea Trust Stena Europe Survey of Cetaceans in the St George’s Channel, April 2004 – April 2011. West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre, UK - UK National Biodiversity Network. https://doi.org/10.15468/5plux4
Contact: Benson, Cliff

Access data
Availability: Restricted
The data are withheld from general circulation and disclosure but access may be obtained on a case-by-case basis through negotiation

Notes: Public access: records available at 10km

Description
The purpose of these Sea Trust surveys is to build a factual picture of the seasonal and spatial presence of cetaceans, as well as relative abundance of the cetacean species to be found in the area transected by the Stena Europe Ferry on a year round basis. more

The records in this dataset originate from the observations of Sea Trust volunteers from the Stena Europe Ferry operating between Fishguard (Wales) and Rosslare (Eire). Geographical coverage comprises a 112 km transect of the St George's Channel between the Welsh mainland at 52 00 65 N, 04 59 11 W decimal, and the Irish mainland at 52 15 35 N, 06 20 26 W decimal. Each survey represents a transect between the two locations and cetacean species records are captured with latitude/longitude, date, time, numbers, adult/juvenile, sea state and other attributes from crossing the Irish Sea twice in daylight with two night time crossings in between. Surveys are carried out on a monthly basis (minimum one per month) and observers are equipped with high quality binoculars and/or a telescope, and are accompanied by at least one experienced observer on board. The bridge of the ship is the observation point, a standard recording sheet is used, and surveys are targeted for favourable weather conditions (Sea State Favourable 0-3) as sightings drop off considerably above this. The systematic methodology employed has been guided by marine scientists. Five species have been sighted: Harbour Porpoise, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Dolphin, Risso's Dolphin and Fin Whale. Of 330 surveys, only 28 yielded no sightings of cetaceans.

Scope
Themes:
Biology, Biology > Ecology - biodiversity, Biology > Mammals
Keywords:
Marine/Coastal, Citizen participation, Marine mammals, ship, ANE, Irish Sea, ANE, St. Georges Channel, Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804, Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758, Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier, 1812), Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758), Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)

Geographical coverage
ANE, Irish Sea [Marine Regions]
ANE, St. Georges Channel [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
April 2004 - April 2011

Taxonomic coverage
Balaenoptera acutorostrata Lacépède, 1804 [WoRMS]
Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]
Grampus griseus (G. Cuvier, 1812) [WoRMS]
Phocoena phocoena (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821) [WoRMS]

Parameters
Animal sightings
Presence of biota
Relative abundance

Contributors
National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN), moredata provider
Sea Trust, moredata creator
West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre (WWBIC), moredata provider


Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Research: field survey
Metadatarecord created: 2012-08-31
Information last updated: 2022-08-12
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy