Cetacean Distribution Records for South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

South Atlantic and South Pacific Ocean records detail the distribution of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. The dataset aggregates published scientific papers, reports, sightings, strandings, and museum collections. It was compiled by SCIOPS and last updated in January 2005.

Use Cases

• Map species occurrence using geographic coordinates from sighting and stranding records.
• Analyze temporal trends in cetacean presence using record dates from counting programs.
• Study habitat preference by correlating species records with location features like fjords, bays, or open coast.
• Validate taxonomic synonymy and historical documentation referenced in the oldest accepted records.

Strengths

• Aggregates data from multiple source types including scientific papers, reports, and museum collections.
• Covers a broad geographic scope encompassing the South Atlantic, Magellanic region, and South Pacific Ocean.

Limitations

• Data recency is limited, with the last update in 2005, potentially missing recent population shifts.
• Heterogeneous source quality includes personal communications and newspaper articles, introducing potential label noise.
• Specific sample size, row count, and column details are unknown, limiting reproducibility assessment.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS, via NASA Earthdata (AR-OBIS).

Collection Method

Compilation from published scientific papers, reports, sightings, strandings, photographs, meetings, books, newspaper articles, and museum specimen collections.

Time Range

Includes historical records, with the oldest accepted after documentation review; specific start date unknown.

Freshness

null

Geography

South Atlantic Ocean, Magellanic region, South Pacific Ocean, including Falkland Islands, Drake Passage, and South Shetland Islands.