Description: These commercial whale watching data are comprised of two datasets. First, the ‘whale_watching_trips_jun_sep_british_columbia’ data layer summarizes commercial whale watching trips that took place in 2019, 2020 and 2021 during the summer months (June to September). The second data layer, ‘wildlife_viewing_events_jun_sep_british_columbia’ contains estimated wildlife viewing events carried out by commercial whale watching vessels for the same years (2019, 2020 and 2021) and months (June to September). Commercial whale watching trips and wildlife viewing events are summarized using the same grid, and they can be related using the unique cell identifier field ‘cell_id’. The bulk of this work was carried out at University of Victoria and was funded by the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response (MEOPAR) Network under the ‘Whale watching AIS Vessel movement Evaluation’ or WAVE project (2018 – 2022). The aim of the WAVE project was to increase the understanding of whale watching activities in Canada’s Pacific region using vessel traffic data derived from AIS (Automatic Identification System). The work was finalized by DFO Science in the Pacific Region. These spatial data products of commercial whale watching operations can be used to inform Marine Spatial Planning, conservation planning activities, and threat assessments involving vessel activities in British Columbia. Methods: A list of commercial whale watching vessels based in British Columbia and Washington State and their corresponding MMSIs (Maritime Mobile Service Identity) was compiled from the whale watching companies and Marine Traffic (www.marinetraffic.com). This list was used to query cleaned CCG AIS data to extract AIS positions corresponding to commercial whale watching vessels. A commercial whale watching trip was defined as a set of consecutive AIS points belonging to the same vessel departing and ending in one of the previously identified whale watching home ports. A classification model (unsupervised Hidden Markov Model) using vessel speed as the main variable was developed to classify AIS vessel positions into wildlife-viewing and non wildlife viewing events. Commercial whale watching trips in the south and north-east of Vancouver Island were limited to a duration of minimum 1 hour and maximum 3.5 hours. For trips in the west coast of Vancouver island the maximum duration was set to 6 hours. Wildlife-viewing events duration was set to minimum of 10 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour duration. For more information on methodology, consult metadata pdf available with the Open Data record. References: Nesdoly, A. 2021. Modelling marine vessels engaged in wildlife-viewing behaviour using Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). Available from: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/13300. Data Sources: Oceans Network Canada (ONC) provided encoded AIS data for years 2019, 2020 and 2021, within a bounding box including Vancouver Island and Puget Sound used to generate these products. This AIS data was in turn provided by the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) via a licensing agreement between the CCG and ONC for the non-commercial use of CCG AIS Data. More information here: https://www.oceannetworks.ca/science/community-based-monitoring/marine-domain-awareness-program/ Molly Fraser provided marine mammal sightings data collected on board a whale watching vessels to develop wildlife-viewing events classification models. More information about this dataset here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X20306709?via%3Dihub Uncertainties: The main source of uncertainty is with the conversion of AIS point locations into track segments, specifically when the distance between positions is large (e.g., greater than 1000 meters).

The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation together with the Ningaloo whale shark tourism industry have been closely involved with monitoring whale sharks at Ningaloo Marine Park since 1995. The following monitoring is being carried out: - Whale shark tourism industry logbooks - Spotter plane logbooks and GPS track and waypoint data collection - Aerial behavioural observations Data from tour operator logbooks has proven useful in gaining an understanding of trends in the whale shark industry. Based on logbook data, the total number of whale shark interactions during the paying season (1st April to 31st May) has reduced by around 36% from 1996 to 2007. This figure needs to be taken with caution as analysis of spotter plane data indicates a shifting peak of whale shark observations to outside the paying season into the months of June and July. Full season data in logbooks was only collected from 2004 onwards. Whale shark interaction success rate for tours has declined slightly, averaging approximately 80%. Sex ratio ranged from 2:1 to 4:1 males:females. Analysis of observed length estimates indicates a 1.5m reduction in mean length. Whale sharks observed showed a trend for direction of travel along the north-south gradient with a greater northward bound favour. Anecdotal reports that whale shark numbers are declining are not supported by an analysis of the aerial spotter plane data. Aerial behavioural observation work was initiated in 2007 as an alternative method of collecting behavioural response to interactions other than the industry logbooks.

Since 1995, PSB has been conducting line-transect aerial abundance surveys over waters ranging from North Carolina to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Nova Scotia, Canada, and from the coastline to slightly beyond the EEZ.

Seabird and incidental cetacean and seal sightings were recorded during daylight hours during the moorings deployment, offshore from Brisbane, Nov 2016. Observations were made every ten minutes in the forward quadrant. There were 410 observations from 20 species of birds and one cetacean. The commonest bird species were Puffinus pacificus and Sterna bergii. Each species has been linked where possible to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS https://www.marinespecies.org). The data has been published to the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS https://obis.org).

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has been conducting surface water trawl surveys since 1992 in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Alaska and in the high seas of the Gulf of Alaska. These surveys initially focused on determining the migratory patterns (1992-2002) and on the growth and physiology (2003-2016) of juvenile Pacific Salmon. Since 2016, these surveys have been broadened to monitor the whole pelagic ecosystem, retaining a focus on juvenile Pacific Salmon. Surveys have been conducted on the continental shelf of north and west Vancouver Island, included associated sounds and inlets since 1992 and are ongoing. These data are for tows conducted in the continental shelf area for depths shallower than 400 meters.