Bering Sea Marine Bird Census with Environmental Data from 1980

Bering Sea data contains marine bird sighting and census information collected from the R/V THOMAS G. THOMPSON and RV Alpha Helix vessels between May and October 1980. Observations are processed into the NODC F033 format, which records species counts, behavior, and associated environmental conditions. The dataset is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing marine bird population density and distribution across the Bering Sea using species count and location columns.
• Studying correlations between bird behavior/flight direction and concurrent meteorological or sea surface conditions.
• Investigating the influence of ice characteristics and distance to shoreline on species sightings during transect surveys.
• Examining platform type and observing technique effects on recorded census data for methodology studies.

Strengths

• Data follows a standardized schema (NODC F033 format) ensuring consistent structure for observations.
• Covers a specific five-month field season in 1980, providing a focused temporal snapshot.
• Includes multi-faceted data: species attributes (age, sex, behavior) and environmental conditions (weather, ice, debris).
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA Earthdata signals its curated importance for scientific use.

Limitations

• Core metadata conflicts: row count, column names, file size, and license are unknown across all sources.
• Data freshness is unclear; the last metadata update is listed as 2026-03-05, which is a future date and likely an error.
• Limited to observations from two primary vessels during a single year, restricting temporal and spatial generality.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Field observations from ship survey tracks, processed by NODC to the F033 standard format.

Time Range

1980-05 21 to 1980-10-25

Freshness

2026-03-05 23:18:00.507329

Geography

Bering Sea