Biologically Important Areas for 24 Cetacean Species in U.S. Waters, 2015-Present

2015-03-01 to present, this dataset maps Biologically Important Areas (BIAs) for 24 cetacean species, stocks, or populations across seven U.S. marine regions. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration compiled it through an expert elicitation process, providing narratives, maps, references, and metadata tables for each BIA. The assessment is intended to inform regulatory and management decisions to minimize anthropogenic impacts on whales and dolphins.

Use Cases

• Modeling spatial overlap between cetacean habitats and proposed offshore development based on mapped BIAs.
• Prioritizing future research and monitoring efforts based on identified information gaps in the BIA narratives.
• Informing environmental impact assessments for activities like shipping or seismic surveys using the expert-defined migratory corridors and feeding areas.
• Supporting marine spatial planning initiatives with region- and species-specific data on reproductive and resident population areas.

Strengths

• Covers 24 cetacean species, stocks, or populations across seven distinct U.S. marine regions.
• Includes multiple data components per BIA: a narrative, a map, a reference list, and a structured metadata table.
• Based on an expert elicitation process, intended to represent the best available science for the covered areas.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale quantitative analysis.
• The delineation of BIAs does not have direct regulatory consequences and does not cover all important cetacean areas.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Identified through an expert elicitation process by the Cetacean Density and Distribution Mapping Working Group.

Time Range

2015-03 01 - Present

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-11 23:32:18.986121; freshness should be verified.

Geography

U.S. waters encompassing seven regions: US East Coast, Gulf of Mexico, West Coast, Hawaiian Islands, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea, and Arctic (northeastern Chukchi and western Beaufort seas).