IMIS

Southeast Cetacean Aerial Survey, SECAS, was conducted in 1995 by NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) to estimate cetacean abundance. This data set contains sightings of cetaceans and sea turtles as well as other species, including fish and shark, observed during the aerial survey. The full taxonomic information for this dataset can be found in the Species tab. Marine mammals and sea turtles observed were:

Cetaceans:
• - Atlantic spotted dolphin
• - Cuvier’s beaked whale
• - Humpback whale
• - Northern right whale
• - Pantropical spotted dolphin
• - Standard Bottlenose dolphin
• - Striped dolphin Sea Turtles:
• - Green turtle
• - Hardshell
• - Kemp's ridley
• - Leatherback
• - Loggerhead

This survey's transects are available in the 'SECAS95Efforts' table/shapefile. ESRI coverage and shapefiles are available for this data set. Purpose The purpose of this data set was to collect cetacean distribution data and allow for estimating cetacean abundance in the southeast. These abundance estimates were expected to serve as a basis for estimating Potential Biological Removals (PBR) for the species stocks in the region in support of Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requirements. More specifically, the survey was to obtain an index of abundance for Tursiops truncatus so as to detect population trends by comparison with historical abundance data (SETS).