Abstract:
Mid Atlantic Tursiops Surveys (MATS) were conducted in 1995 by NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center to examine the distribution and estimate an index of relative abundance for Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) inhabiting the nearshore coastal waters in mid-and southern Atlantic bight. This data set contains sightings of not only the target dolphins but also other species
... including cetaceans, sea turtles, fish and shark observed during the aerial surveys. The same transects were traced three times on different dates during the survey period. This data set is the second one. The other two are provided, too, with the number following MATS95s indicating the first, second and last. Cetacean and sea turtles observed include as follows.
<< Cetacean >>
Atlantic spotted dolphin
Standard Bottlenose dolphin
<< Sea Turtle >>
Hardshell
Kemp's ridley
Leatherback
Loggerhead
Survey's transects information is available in MATS95s2Efforts. 
Purpose:
The purpose of this survey was to examine the distribution and estimate an index of relative abundance for Atlantic bottlenose dolphins inhabiting the nearshore coastal waters of the U.S. mid- and southern Atlantic bight.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Records with no common name are some pollution observed (e.g. plastic). Records were assigned a sequential number LineNo. LineNo can be used to match
... observations with corresponding transects, each of which has BegLineNo and EndLineNo fields. Observation records with their LineNo between BegLineNo and EndLineNo in a transect are related to that transect. A duplicated LineNo indicates more than one species were observed at the same time. Records include 'off-effort' sightings as well. Card 'F' indicates that the observation was done while off-effort. Card D is used for observation while on effort. When searching for a specific species, note that some records don't identify animals observed at a species level. If this is the case, the common/scientific name may be genus/family or higher (e.g. Balaenoptera sp.).
CURRENTNESS REFERENCE: ground condition
SPATIAL DATA ORGANIZATION INFORMATION
Direct Spatial Reference: Vector SDTS
Point and Vector Object Type: Entity point
Point and Vector Object Count: 1228
SPATIAL REFERENCE INFORMATION - GEODETIC MODEL
Horizontal Datum Name: D_WGS_1984
Ellipsoid Name: WGS_1984
Semi-major Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257224
NATIVE: Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 4; ESRI ArcCatalog 8.3.0.800
