This data set describes nucleotide sequence data derived from 18S ribosomal DNA amplified in two fragments. A total of 87 feces from Pacific walrus and 57 marine invertebrates were examined for this study. Samples were collected from the Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea, Alaska. Samples used in the study originated from feces or muscle samples collected in the field from ice floes or benthic van Veen grab samples.

This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Pacific walrus, a marine mammal that ranges between the Alaska Peninsula, up through the Bering and Chukchi seas, and over to Russia. Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters. Child Item 2: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) - Raw Data" -- All raw data collected from Argos satellite transmitters, provided for completeness of the archive. The quality-controlled, "Argos Processed Data" (Child Item 1) are better suited for most analytical purposes.

This data release includes 2 child items with tracking data for Pacific walrus, a marine mammal that ranges between the Alaska Peninsula, up through the Bering and Chukchi seas, and over to Russia. Child Item 1: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) - Processed Data" -- Quality-controlled data collected from Argos satellite transmitters. Child Item 2: "Argos Satellite Tracking Data for Pacific Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) - Raw Data" -- All raw data collected from Argos satellite transmitters, provided for completeness of the archive. The quality-controlled, "Argos Processed Data" (Child Item 1) are better suited for most analytical purposes.

This dataset contains morphological measures of Pacific walruses sampled in the Chukchi and Bering Seas between 1972 and 1991. From 1972 through 1991 the Soviet Union employed industrial methods to harvest and process Pacific walruses to enhance the Russian Far East economy. Under the oversight of the Pacific branch of the Soviet All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), offshore harvesting crews worked from specialized marine mammal hunting ships (ZRS) throughout the spring, summer, and early autumn in the marginal sea ice habitats of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. They launched small (~7 m) wooden boats to approach walruses resting on ice pans, which were dispatched with standard hunting rifles. Harvested walruses were hauled back to the ZRS vessel for processing. Soviet cruises that contributed data to this dataset include ZRS Zagoriany (1976 spring), Surveyor (1978 spring), ZRS Zubarevo (1978), ZRS Zagorskii (1980 March 6 - April 23), ZRS Zvyagino (1981 February - March), KS Entuziast (1982 July 25 - August 23), ZRS Zakharova (1984 autumn, 1985 March 15 - April 26 and 1987 autumn), ZRS Zaslonovo (1991 March 28 - May 21). Beginning in 1981 harvesting extended into United States waters of the Pacific Arctic with permission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the auspices of the 1972 Area V bilateral agreement in the area of the environment. This bilateral agreement enabled direct liaison between Soviet and U.S. biologists who then arranged to collaborate collecting data from these offshore harvest efforts that may be used to understand basic walrus biology and monitor changes in their condition and reproductive success. Throughout the harvesting efforts, trained biologists inspected, measured, and weighed walrus specimens that had been landed onto the processing vessel. Harvest locations, observations, and measurements were recorded into numbered journals and standardized datasheets. This dataset contains these data. Originally these data were managed by VNIRO, however, to promote data curation during the post-Soviet period VNIRO formed an agreement with USGS Alaska Science Center (which at the time was the U.S. National Biological Survey) to maintain a copy of these data and provide access to them for studies vetted by representatives of the original data collection agency. This current database is published with permission of the original data curator, Dr. Yuri Bukhtiyarov.

This dataset contains morphological measures of Pacific walruses sampled in the Chukchi and Bering Seas between 1972 and 1991. From 1972 through 1991 the Soviet Union employed industrial methods to harvest and process Pacific walruses to enhance the Russian Far East economy. Under the oversight of the Pacific branch of the Soviet All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), offshore harvesting crews worked from specialized marine mammal hunting ships (ZRS) throughout the spring, summer, and early autumn in the marginal sea ice habitats of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. They launched small (~7 m) wooden boats to approach walruses resting on ice pans, which were dispatched with standard hunting rifles. Harvested walruses were hauled back to the ZRS vessel for processing. Soviet cruises that contributed data to this dataset include ZRS Zagoriany (1976 spring), Surveyor (1978 spring), ZRS Zubarevo (1978), ZRS Zagorskii (1980 March 6 - April 23), ZRS Zvyagino (1981 February - March), KS Entuziast (1982 July 25 - August 23), ZRS Zakharova (1984 autumn, 1985 March 15 - April 26 and 1987 autumn), ZRS Zaslonovo (1991 March 28 - May 21). Beginning in 1981 harvesting extended into United States waters of the Pacific Arctic with permission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the auspices of the 1972 Area V bilateral agreement in the area of the environment. This bilateral agreement enabled direct liaison between Soviet and U.S. biologists who then arranged to collaborate collecting data from these offshore harvest efforts that may be used to understand basic walrus biology and monitor changes in their condition and reproductive success. Throughout the harvesting efforts, trained biologists inspected, measured, and weighed walrus specimens that had been landed onto the processing vessel. Harvest locations, observations, and measurements were recorded into numbered journals and standardized datasheets. This dataset contains these data. Originally these data were managed by VNIRO, however, to promote data curation during the post-Soviet period VNIRO formed an agreement with USGS Alaska Science Center (which at the time was the U.S. National Biological Survey) to maintain a copy of these data and provide access to them for studies vetted by representatives of the original data collection agency. This current database is published with permission of the original data curator, Dr. Yuri Bukhtiyarov.

Accurate identification of various life history stages and prey items of marine fishes and invertebrates is central for understanding distribution,abundance, trophic ecology, and biodiversity of these species. Taxonomic approaches have been successfully applied to ichthyoplankton identification and diet analysis efforts for many years. Identification to the species level requires varying degrees of taxonomic expertise. and diagnostic characters for eggs or larvae in some species have not been elucidated. In the current dataset we assembled a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) database for which used standard laboratory protocols (restriction fragment length polymorphism and Sanger DNA sequencing) to accurately identify any life history stages of selected fish and shrimp species, with special emphasis on those species that have been difficult or impossible to identify by conventional taxonomic means. Fish and shrimp specimens were collected between 2010 - 2013. We developed a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)protocol, based upon mitochondrial DNA sequences to distinguish between Pacific halibut and Greenland halibut, but were unable to develop one to discriminate between Bering flounder and flathead sole. We used direct Sanger sequencing of mitochondrial DNA for species identification of 32 species of sculpin and four species of caridean shrimp. PCR products from fish and shrimp samples were sequenced using an ABI 3730 automated sequencer (Applied Biosystems, Inc). DNA sequences from museum voucher specimens were compared with entries in the public databases for those species. Sequences from voucher specimens have greater taxonomic authority for use in species identification than those without vouchers, adding greater confidence to species identifications based upon our data.

This data package contains digital images, survey location logs and a summary tabulation from carcass survey conducted at walrus haulouts in Alaska. A summary of image collection times is provided as a tabular file.

This data package contains digital images, survey location logs and a summary tabulation from carcass survey conducted at walrus haulouts in Alaska. A summary of image collection times is provided as a tabular file.

This metadata document describes the data contained in the "processedData" folder of this data package. This data package contains all data collected by the Argos System from 921 satellite transmitters attached to adult Pacific walruses in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, in U.S. and Russian waters, 1988-2019. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates and decode raw sensor data. Very few transmitters (n=5) also carried GPS receivers. Because the GPS locations were communicated through the Argos System, a time series of Argos (Doppler) tracking data for those 5 transmitters also exists and is included. Four Comma Separate Value (CSV) tables are included in the "processedData" folder of this data package: 1) the "GPS_filteredLocations" table contains one record for every GPS location obtained, accompanied by a binary flag that denotes an algorithm's plausibility check (based on a speed threshold of 35 m/s); 2) the "diag_filteredLocations" table contains one record for every Argos location estimate collected, accompanied by a binary flag that denotes an algorithm's plausibility check (based on distance, turning angle, and rate thresholds). Each record in both the GPS and Argos filtered-location tables also includes a 'Tracking_Status' variable that denotes whether the location was collected from a live animal, a dead animal, or shed transmitter, 3) the "decodedSensor" table contains decoded sensor data such as the transmitter's temperature, battery voltage, and motion (activity), and 4) the "deploymentAttributes" table contains one record for each transmitter deployment in a CSV formatted table. The deployment attributes file contains information such as when the transmitter was attached to the animal, when tracking of a live animal ended, and a variety of variables describing the animal and transmitter. This table is identical to the "deploymentAttributes" table in the "rawData" folder of this data package.

This metadata document describes the data contained in the "Argos Processed Data" (Child Item 1) of this data release. This data release contains all data collected by the Argos System from 921 satellite transmitters attached to adult Pacific walruses in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, in U.S. and Russian waters, 1988-2019. The raw data were processed to accomplish two goals: flag implausible location estimates and decode raw sensor data. Very few transmitters (n=5) also carried GPS receivers. Because the GPS locations were communicated through the Argos System, a time series of Argos (Doppler) tracking data for those 5 transmitters also exists and is included. Four Comma Separate Value (CSV) tables are included in the "Argos Processed Data" (Child Item 1) of this data release: 1) the "GPS_filteredLocations" table contains one record for every GPS location obtained, accompanied by a binary flag that denotes an algorithm's plausibility check (based on a speed threshold of 35 m/s); 2) the "diag_filteredLocations" table contains one record for every Argos location estimate collected, accompanied by a binary flag that denotes an algorithm's plausibility check (based on distance, turning angle, and rate thresholds). Each record in both the GPS and Argos filtered-location tables also includes a 'Tracking_Status' variable that denotes whether the location was collected from a live animal, a dead animal, or shed transmitter, 3) the "decodedSensor" table contains decoded sensor data such as the transmitter's temperature, battery voltage, and motion (activity), and 4) the "deploymentAttributes" table contains one record for each transmitter deployment in a CSV formatted table. The deployment attributes file contains information such as when the transmitter was attached to the animal, when tracking of a live animal ended, and a variety of variables describing the animal and transmitter. This table is identical to the "deploymentAttributes" table in the "Argos Raw Data" (Child Item 2) of this data release.