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To document the seasonal distribution of manatees in coastal areas of Tampa Bay, Florida from the Hillsborough-Manatee County line to Coffee Pot Bayou in southern Pinellas County, Florida. |
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To document the seasonal distribution of manatees in coastal areas of Tampa Bay, Florida from the Hillsborough-Manatee County line to Coffee Pot Bayou in southern Pinellas County, Florida. |
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Flights were flown and data were collected by staff from Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and Mote Marine Laboratory. Data were entered by FWC staff. Use of these data must be credited in any reports or other written publications by the following sentence: "Manatee specific data used in analyses were collected under scientific research permit #MA773494 issued to FWC-FWRI." |
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<DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Aerial distribution surveys are used by marine mammal biologists from Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish & Wildlife Research Institute (FWC-FWRI) and other agencies to determine the seasonal distribution of manatees. Most surveys are conducted from small, four-seat, high-winged airplanes (Cessna 172 or 182) flying at a height of 500-1000 ft at a speed of 70-90 kts. This survey was conducted by one aircraft mostly following historical flight paths used for past county-wide distribution surveys. However, some changes were made to shorten the flight route or to cover areas not flown in previous paths. See trackline metadata for details of flight path modifications. Flight paths generally curved parallel to the shoreline, and the airplane circled when manatees were spotted until a count of the number of animals in each group was obtained. Circling was limited to 3 passes unless a group was unusually large and aerial photos were used in some cases to confirm counts. Sightings data were recorded on paper maps and entered into a GIS shapefile for spatial analysis using NAIP 2021 - 2022 imagery and recorded flight paths as a reference. GIS is a computer software system for representing data spatially and for conducting spatial analyses. Counts presented in this dataset have not been corrected for detection bias (either perception or availability) and the absence of sightings in an area does not mean that no animals were present. This dataset includes recorded manatee sightings from 24 surveys flown on the following dates: 13 September 2023; 6 and 23 October 2023; 18 and 29 November 2023; 5 and 29 December 2023; 18 and 26 January 2024; 16 and 27 February 2024; 7 and 25 March 2024; 9 and 17 April 2024; 3 and 30 May 2024; 4 and 26 June 2024; 23 and 27 July 2024; 12 and 27 August 2024; 12 September 2024. FWC or Mote Marine Laboratory staff members were primary observers for these flights, and dual observers (two observers, one in the front seat and one in the rear seat) were present on some or all survey flights. The survey area includes the coastal areas of Tampa Bay, Florida from the Hillsborough-Manatee County line to Coffee Pot Bayou in southern Pinellas County. Some areas along the planned flight path may have been partially surveyed or not surveyed at all due to air traffic, weather, or other constraints present during individual surveys.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV> |
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<DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Acknowledgement of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute as the data source would be appreciated in any products developed from these data, and such acknowledgment as is standard for data source citation and legal practices is expected by users of this data. Please cite the original metadata when using portions of the record to create a similar record of slightly altered data, such as reprojection. If any data are modified or adjusted, please share the edited information with FWC. Users should be aware that comparison with other data sets for the same area from other time periods may be inaccurate due to inconsistencies resulting from changes in mapping conventions, data collection, and computer processes over time. Counts presented in this dataset have not been corrected for detection bias (either perception or availability). FWC shall not be liable for improper or incorrect use of this data. These data are not legal documents and are not to be used as such. Counts presented in this data set are assumed to be minimum counts and have not been corrected for detection bias (either perception or availability). Some areas along the flight may have been partially surveyed or not surveyed at all due to air traffic, weather, or other constraints present during individual surveys.</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>, <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Access Constraints: All data must be verified by Principal Investigator or Group Database Analyst prior to release. It is strongly recommended that this data is directly acquired from FWC and not indirectly from other sources that may have changed the data in some way. FWC makes no claims as to the data's suitability for other purposes. </SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>, <DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Distribution Liability: This data set is in the public domain, and the recipient may not assert any proprietary rights thereto nor represent it to anyone as other than a FWC-FWRI produced data set; it is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The user assumes all responsibility for the accuracy and suitability of this dataset for a specific application. In no event will the staff of the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute be liable for any damages, including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of or the inability to use this data set. </SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV> |
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Tampa Bay 2023 - 2024 Manatee Distribution Survey Observations |
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["biota","location","Wildlife Research","Marine Mammal Research","Florida","Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute","marine mammals","biota"] |
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en-US |
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150000000 |
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