YoNAH: North Atlantic Humpback Whale Photographs, Genetics, and Behavior Data

1992-1993 standardized study of humpback whales across their North Atlantic breeding and feeding grounds. The YoNAH project collected photographs of natural markings, genetic samples, and behavior data. The work was undertaken by SCIOPS, representing a broad-ranging, intensive study of a marine mammal species.

Use Cases

• Train individual whale re-identification models based on photographs of distinctive natural markings.
• Analyze genetic population structure and connectivity based on collected genetic samples.
• Study whale behavior patterns across breeding and feeding grounds using the collected behavior data.
• Assess the effectiveness of standardized sampling protocols for minimizing bias in marine mammal studies.

Strengths

• Standardized sampling protocols were used across all areas to minimize bias.
• Data collection spanned the principal breeding range and all known major feeding grounds in the North Atlantic.
• Project represents the broadest-ranging, most intensive study of a marine mammal species at the time.

Limitations

• Last updated 1993-12-08 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS via nasa_earthdata

Collection Method

Field work using standardized sampling protocols to collect photographs, genetic samples, and behavior data.

Time Range

1992-1993

Freshness

1993-12-08 23:59:59.999000

Geography

North Atlantic Ocean (West Indies breeding grounds: Silver Bank, Navidad Bank, Samana Bay, Mona Passage; feeding grounds: Gulf of Maine, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, Labrador, southwestern Greenland, Iceland, Norway)