Distribution and Relative Abundance of Fin Whale in Irish EEZ 2005-2011

The fin whale is Irelands most common large baleen whale and grows to a maximum body length of 24 m in the north Atlantic. Body colour is grey with a white underside. The head is v-shaped with a prominent rostrum in front of the blowhole. Jaw-colour is asymmetrical with the right lower jaw being white in colour and the left being grey, this is diagnostic for the species. A pattern of light and dark grey chevrons is noticeable behind the head in good light conditions. The dorsal fin is prominent and located two-thirds of the way along the back. It is variable in shape, though typically falcate or triangular. The species produces a tall columnar blow up to 6 m high which is very noticeable. The blow can sometimes appear

angled if the animal blows while surfacing from

depth. This species almost never flukes or breaches in Irish waters. Lunge feeding at the surface is sometimes seen off the south coast.

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

 
Citation proposal
(2013) . Distribution and Relative Abundance of Fin Whale in Irish EEZ 2005-2011. https://services.mspdata.eu:/geonetwork/srv/api/records/b1b3f046-337e-4806-8b39-0e99eb966086

Simple

Alternate title

IWDG Marine Mammals Atlas Fin 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.FinWhale

/

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

  +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, Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus, 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

  +44-77-71762355 
OnLine resource
REST service  
OnLine resource
Get JSON  
OnLine resource
WMS GetCapabilities  
OnLine resource
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
b1b3f046-337e-4806-8b39-0e99eb966086   XML
Metadata language
English
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Date stamp
2018-01-25T15:23:31
Metadata standard name

ISDI Metadata Profile

Metadata standard version

1.2

  Point of contact

  +353-91-387201 
 
 

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