• Metadata catalogue
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Distribution and Relative Abundance of Killer Whale in Irish EEZ 2005-2011

Killer whales are the largest dolphin species, with adults reaching up to 9.5 m in length.The blow is low and bushy with a sharp sound, audible from a distance. The head is rounded with an indistinct blunt beak. The triangular dorsal fin, located half-way along the back, is the largest of any cetacean species and

reaches 1.8 m in height in males.The dorsal fin on females and juveniles is falcate and more dolphin-like. Body colour is jet-black above and on the flanks. They have white undersides with a white patch above and slightly behind the eye and a white patch stretching from the underside onto the flanks. A lighter coloured saddle patch varies in colour from white to grey to brownish.

Identification at sea is easy if the group contains an adult male, which they almost always do, as there is no mistaking the male dorsal fin. Even females and sub-adults have a noticeably larger dorsal fin than other species. The striking body colouration is also

diagnostic.

The data collected includes observations, relative abundance, search for and range of Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) recorded from marine mammals observations on board ships of opportunity between 2005 and 2011.

 
Citation proposal
(2013) . Distribution and Relative Abundance of Killer Whale in Irish EEZ 2005-2011. https://services.mspdata.eu:/geonetwork/srv/api/records/53bb01b0-ad55-4a36-9e04-5373dab4352e

Simple

Alternate title
IWDG Marine Mammals Atlas Killer Whale Distribution
Date ( Creation )
2005-01-01T00:00:00
Date ( Publication )
2013-12-31T00:00:00
Date ( Revision )
2015-11-20T00:00:00
Identifier
INSPIRE UUID / SD.IE.IWDG.AtlasMarineMammals.KillerWhale / 1.0
Purpose
Ireland has an obligation to report to the European Union on the favourable conservation status (FCS) of certain protected species and habitats every six years and this requires comprehensive species and habitat monitoring networks at a national level.
Status
Completed

  Point of contact

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group - Dave Wall (Ships Survey Officer )  
22 Martello Park Holywood Co. Down BT18 0DG Northern Ireland

  +44-77-71762355  
  +44-77-71762355 
Maintenance and update frequency
Unknown
GemetInspireTheme ( Theme )
  • Species distribution
GEMET - Concepts, version 3.1 ( Theme )
  • whale, cetacean, mammal, vertebrate
Irish Whale and Dolphin Group ( Theme )
  • whales, Killer Whale, Orcinus orca, marine mammals, distribution, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group
ISO 3166 ( Place )
  • Ireland
Use limitation
Creative Commons licence conditions apply
Use limitation
Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0
Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License
Other constraints
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Spatial representation type
Grid
Denominator
50000
Metadata language
English
Character set
UTF8
Topic category
  • Oceans
  • Geoscientific information
  • Biota
N
S
E
W


Vertical extent

Minimum value
-5000
Maximum value
-1

Vertical CS

Vertical datum

Supplemental Information
Vector dataset.
Reference system identifier
EPSG / http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/4326

 

Alternate title
EPSG
Date ( Publication )
2009-11-25

Distribution format
  • CSV, KML, Esri shapefile, WMS, WFS, REST, GeoJSON (RFC 1480, 7.0, V10.x, 1.3.0, 2.0, Esri, 4.0 )

  Point of contact

Irish Whale and Dolphin Group - Dave Wall (Ships Survey Officer )  
22 Martello Park Holywood Co. Down BT18 0DG Northern Ireland

  +44-77-71762355  
  +44-77-71762355 
OnLine resource
REST service  

REST service

OnLine resource
Get JSON  

Get JSON

OnLine resource
WMS GetCapabilities  

WMS GetCapabilities

OnLine resource
WFS GetCapabilities  

WFS GetCapabilities

Hierarchy level
Dataset

Conformance result

Alternate title
INSPIRE Data Specifications v3.1
Date ( Publication )
2014-04-17
Explanation
The INSPIRE Directive or INSPIRE lays down a general framework for a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) for the purposes of European Community environmental policies and policies or activities which may have an impact on the environment.
Pass
false

Conformance result

Alternate title
INSPIRE Interoperability Regulation
Date ( Publication )
2010-12-08
Explanation
Level of conformance with the COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services
Pass
false
Statement

This Atlas presents data collected during the IWDG ISCOPE I and II projects, the IWDG/GMIT Marine Mammals and Megafauna in Irish waters project, the IWDG Ferry Surveys Programme and the IWDG casual and effort-based sightings scheme between January 2005 and January 2011. A single marine mammal observer (or up to three observers, in the case of IWDG ferry surveys) conducted visual survey effort from research vessels, naval service vessels and commercial ro-ro ferries between 2005 and 2011. Survey effort was conducted either from the ships’ bridge, the monkey island (the roof of the bridge) or from the ‘crow’s nest’ (R.V. Celtic Explorer). Using an angle board and distances were estimated with the aid of a range finding stick (Heinemann 1981). Environment data were recorded every 15 – 20 minutes using Logger 2000 software (IFAW 2000). Sightings were also recorded using Logger 2000. Automated position data were obtained through a laptop computer linked to a USB GPS receiver. Survey effort was conducted up to Beaufort sea-state six and in moderate to good visibility.As these were surveys on board vessels of opportunity, the surveys were conducted in ‘passing mode’ and cetaceans sighted were not approached.

Sightings were identified to species level where possible, with species identifications being graded as definite, probable or possible.Where species identification could not be confirmed, sightings were downgraded (e.g. unidentified dolphin / unidentified whale / unidentified beaked whale etc.) according to criteria established for the IWDG’s cetacean sightings database (IWDG 2013). Observer effort focused on a 90 degree arc ahead of the ship; however sightings located up to 90 degrees to port and starboard were included. Surveyors scanned the area by eye and using binoculars (typically 10X40 or 8X50). Bearings to sightings were measured.

Metadata

File identifier
53bb01b0-ad55-4a36-9e04-5373dab4352e   XML
Metadata language
English
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Date stamp
2018-01-25T15:23:44
Metadata standard name
ISDI Metadata Profile
Metadata standard version
1.2

  Point of contact

Marine Institute - IT Data Management (Data Analyst and Information Management Specialist )  
Rinville Oranmore Co. Galway H91 R673 Ireland

  +353-91-387200  
  +353-91-387201 
 
 

  Overviews

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