Description
This is the OBIS extraction of the Ocean Tracking Network and University College Cork (UCC) CETUS: Cetacean, Elasmobranch, Turtle, and Seabird distribution modelling platform, consisting of the release tagging metadata, i.e. the location and date when the tagged animal was released, and summarized detection events of tagged individuals. If readers are interested in the source dataset they may also inquire with the project PIs as listed here or on the OTN web site (https://members.oceantrack.org/project?ccode=V2LCETUS).
Abstract:By 2030, the Irish Government aims to generate 7 GW of energy via offshore wind projects. Irish maritime waters are home to a rich diversity of animals, including cetaceans, seabirds, and elasmobranchs. Owing to the multitude of upcoming offshore renewable energy projects, there is a need to understand the potential interactions between potentially sensitive aquatic fauna and offshore wind infrastructure. Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) are generally slow growing, late maturing, and have low fecundity, which makes them vulnerable to overexploitation. Ireland's waters are host to 71 species of elasmobranch. Despite this diversity, there is a paucity of data on their movements in Irish waters, with data predominantly gleaned from observational sightings, mark-recapture tagging and ad-hoc reports. The elasmobranch component of CETUS aims to use acoustic and/or satellite telemetry to track the movements of sensitive and Threatened species, including flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius), porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and tope (Galeorhinus galeus) in Irish waters. As well as the movements of benthic elasmobranchs including the thornback ray (Raja clavata) and small spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) around Arklow Bank, the only existing wind farm site in Irish waters. These data will be used to identify hotspots of activity, seasonal differences in space use, and potential interactions between existing and proposed offshore renewable wind sites. Resultant findings will be used to inform developers and policymakers regarding the distribution of sensitive species and add to the limited existing published research on these species within Irish waters.
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 66,276 records.
2 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Orrell, D.L., Haberlin, D.H., Cohuo, A.C., Harman, L., Roche, W., Doyle, T. 2023. Investigating elasmobranch distributions to inform the sustainable development of offshore renewable energy. Accessed via the Ocean Tracking Network OBIS IPT on INSERT DATE
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has not been registered with GBIF
Keywords
ACOUSTIC TAGS; EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > FISH; Occurrence; Samplingevent
External data
The resource data is also available in other formats
| CETUS: Cetacean, Elasmobranch, Turtle, and Seabird distribution modelling platform | https://members.oceantrack.org/project?ccode=V2LCETUS ASCII HTM |
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Contacts
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact
- Data Manager
- Dalhousie University
- +1 (902) 494-4101
- Principal Investigator
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1616-5590
- Principal Investigator
- Principal Investigator
- Content Provider
- Content Provider
Geographic Coverage
COUNTY WICKLOW
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [50.58, -9.7], North East [54.15, 8.67] |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date | 2023-05-01 |
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Project Data
By 2030, the Irish Government aims to generate 7 GW of energy via offshore wind projects. Irish maritime waters are home to a rich diversity of animals, including cetaceans, seabirds, and elasmobranchs. Owing to the multitude of upcoming offshore renewable energy projects, there is a need to understand the potential interactions between potentially sensitive aquatic fauna and offshore wind infrastructure. Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) are generally slow growing, late maturing, and have low fecundity, which makes them vulnerable to overexploitation. Ireland's waters are host to 71 species of elasmobranch. Despite this diversity, there is a paucity of data on their movements in Irish waters, with data predominantly gleaned from observational sightings, mark-recapture tagging and ad-hoc reports. The elasmobranch component of CETUS aims to use acoustic and/or satellite telemetry to track the movements of sensitive and Threatened species, including flapper skate (Dipturus intermedius), porbeagle (Lamna nasus) and tope (Galeorhinus galeus) in Irish waters. As well as the movements of benthic elasmobranchs including the thornback ray (Raja clavata) and small spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula) around Arklow Bank, the only existing wind farm site in Irish waters. These data will be used to identify hotspots of activity, seasonal differences in space use, and potential interactions between existing and proposed offshore renewable wind sites. Resultant findings will be used to inform developers and policymakers regarding the distribution of sensitive species and add to the limited existing published research on these species within Irish waters.
| Title | Investigating elasmobranch distributions to generate baseline data for Threatened species and inform the sustainable development of offshore renewable energy |
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| Funding | OTN is a research and technology development initiative headquartered at Dalhousie University, in Halifax Nova Scotia. OTN is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and is grateful to have once received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). OTN is also grateful for the continued support from Research Nova Scotia, and OTN's host institution, Dalhousie University. |
| Study Area Description | No study area description for this project was provided to OTN for publication. |
| Design Description | A wide range of aquatic species are tagged with small electronic transmitters, surgically implanted or attached externally, which can operate for up to 20 years. Acoustic receivers arranged in line on the ocean floor as well as attached to buoys, gliders and large animals (e.g. grey seals) pick up the coded acoustic signals from these tags identifying each tagged sea creature that passes within half a kilometer of the receiver. Data collected by these listening stations are subsequently uploaded to one of many compatible data nodes, adding to the reach of an intercompatible network of networks designed and maintained by the Ocean Tracking Network, producing current and reliable records for every part of the globe. Certain classes of electronic tags and listening equipment (receivers) may also be outfitted or co-located with sensors to measure the ocean's temperature, depth, salinity, currents, chemistry, and other properties. |
The personnel involved in the project:
Sampling Methods
Acoustic tags released.
| Study Extent | Program started 2023-05-01 and ran until None |
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| Quality Control | OTN species names are verified using the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). If species names on new data cannot be verified against (a) known valid names in OTN, and/or (b) WoRMs the Data Provider will be notified so they can check they are correct. Names that cannot be placed after checking with WoRMS are, where possible, placed on the basis of other authoritative sources, such as the Fishbase or ITIS; and once completely verified a request will be sent to WoRMS for addition of the verified species name. http://members.oceantrack.org/data/discovery/byspecies |
Method step description:
- This resource was created by the Ocean Tracking Network Data Centre as a summarized representation of animal presence determined by electronic tagging efforts. Darwin Core (DwC) records were extracted from the OTN database and filtered and summarized according to international agreed-upon standards.
Bibliographic Citations
- Orrell, D.L., Haberlin, D.H., Cohuo, A.C., Harman, L., Roche, W., Doyle, T. 2023. Investigating elasmobranch distributions to inform the sustainable development of offshore renewable energy In: Ocean Tracking Network Data Centre, Halifax Canada / otndc@dal.ca Retrieved: 2026-10-07 from db.load.oceantrack.org
Additional Metadata
Access Constraints: none Use Constraints: Acknowledge the use of specific records from contributing databases in the form appearing in the 'Citation' field thereof (if any); and acknowledge the use of the OBIS facility. For information purposes, email to info@obis.org the full citation of any publication made (printed or electronic) that cites OBIS or any constituent part. Recognize the limitations of data in OBIS. See https://manual.obis.org/policy.html#disclaimer for more details
| Purpose | These data are for display on the OBIS portal and associated mapping programs and for download to personal computers for ad-hoc end-user analysis. |
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| Alternative Identifiers | https://members.oceantrack.org/ipt/resource?r=otnucccetus_cetacean_elas |