This data set documents observers that have collected monk seal data as part of the ongoing monk seal population assessment efforts by PSD personnel and cooperating scientists. Information includes observer initials, affiliation, and contact information.

This data set contains focal animal observations and other behavioral data recorded during special studies conducted by PSD personnel and cooperating scientists as part of the ongoing monk seal population assessment and survival enhancement efforts. These include Effects of Tagging and Association Patterns studies conducted at Lisianski Island in 1982, Pair Watches recorded as part of a behavioral study at Laysan Island in 1985, behavior data collected at Sea Life Park, and mother-pup observations collected at Trig Island in 2009 (roughly replicating Boness' earlier FFS mother-pup study). Most data have been entered, however some data are housed at PIFSC in paper form.

List of legacy data collection forms that observers used for data collection out at sea.

Accurate and precise stock assessments are predicated on accurate and precise estimates of life history parameters, abundance, and catch across the range of the stock. NOAA Fisheries is increasingly looking to advanced fishery-independent survey methods to estimate stock abundance and many authors have highlighted the continued need for development of non-intrusive methods that can be used in areas both open and closed to fishing, as well as for stocks where extractive sampling may remove a significant portion of the yearly quota. While it is commonly agreed that a combination of survey methods is preferable to any single method, in order to be used effectively and efficiently, such methods must be quantitatively evaluated and compared. The development of adequate calibration factors allows pooling of data from disparate methods to generate robust metrics of abundance. In this study, we quantitatively compare a suite of autonomous optical, acoustic, and cooperative research fishery-independent sampling methods for estimating species-specific size-structured abundance for six snapper species and one grouper species, which comprise the major insular commercial fishery in the Main Hawaiian Islands (known as the Deep 7 bottomfish complex). This comparison serves as the basis for an operational, fishery-independent survey for stock assessment in the Main Hawaiian Islands.

This data set contains records for all handling and measurement of Hawaiian monk seals since 1981. Live seals are handled and measured during a variety of events including tagging, instrumenting, disentangling, translocation, and health screening by PSD personnel and cooperating scientists as part of the ongoing monk seal population assessment and recovery efforts. In addition, this data set contains measurements of dead seals collected during necropsy and handlings for all seals that were tagged by USFWS in earlier years, and still present in the population when the current research effort began. These handling records extend as far back as 1967. The remainder of the USFWS handling data (data for seals that disappeared prior to the inception of the PSD research program) are housed at PIFSC in paper form.

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for endangered Hawaiian monk seals, endangered humpback whales, and other whales and dolphins in coastal Hawaii. Vector polygons in this data set represent marine mammal distribution and Hawaiian monk seal pupping and haul-out sites. Species-specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in relational data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. This data set comprises a portion of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) data for Hawaii. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources. See also the M_MAMPT (Marine Mammal Points) data layer, part of the larger Hawaii ESI database, for additional marine mammal information.

This data set documents locations and location codes used in monk seal data collection as part of the ongoing monk seal population assessment efforts. Information includes atolls, islets within each atoll, sectors valid for each islet, and GPS coordinates. Sectors for the six main breeding locations in the NWHI were established in 1982 at the beginning of concerted data collection by this project, and have remained fairly constant with the exception of boundary changes at Lisianski and Midway in 1992, and islet coding changes at Kure in 1994. In recent years sectors have also been established for the main Hawaiian islands.

This data set contains information on Hawaiian monk seal gross necropsy (in some cases only field notes or minimal information) and histopathology results beginning in 1964. Data includes information on all recovered Hawaiian monk seal carcasses that were necropsied. Information derived from pathology reports is included when tissues were reviewed by pathologists. Necropsy tissues are collected by Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program (HMSRP) personnel and cooperating scientists as part of the ongoing health and disease assessment. The tissues are reviewed by collaborating pathologists. All original paper reports are housed at the NOAA Inouye Regional Center (IRC) and most are available electronically. Data are available in an excel spreadsheet.

The data set contains records of all documented hookings and/or entanglements of Hawaiian monk seals with actively fished gear, both commercial and recreational. The data do NOT include fishery interactions in which seals take the bait or the catch without becoming hooked or entangled. Data include 1) reports from the public or field biologists of seals sighted with embedded hooks; 2) reports from the public or field biologists of seals entangled in nearshore gillnets within the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI); 3) NMFS observer reports, and 4) fishery logbooks. Reports from the public are followed up by field biologists to verify the incident. Seals observed entangled in nearshore gillnets in the MHI are generally considered to have become entangled while the gear was being actively fished, rather than when the gear may have been derelict.

These data contains towed diver surveys of and weights of marine debris removed from the near shore environments of the NWHI.