This long-term study took place during the years 2005 to 2012 and focused on data collection on Caribbean sperm whales with the goal of general investigation of this understudied population. Through use of photo ID and behavioral observations, social units of sperm whales were identified, and locations of encounters were recorded. Using Spatial Analyst Tools in ArcGIS10, the researchers were able to determine the distance from shore, and from a 100 by100 m resolution bathymetric model (IFREMER), the researchers were able to estimate the depth of ocean that the whales were sighted.
Although this study focused primarily on individual identification through photo ID and determination of social units, this study exemplified the simple yet effective use of GIS to extract pertinent information such as distance from shore and ocean depth from simple lat/long coordinates. My own dataset does not include depth or distance from shore but may benefit from these metrics by providing additional clues to identify potential foraging behavior and prey preferences based on depth of occurrence and location.
Gero, S., Milligan, M., Rinaldi, C., Francis, P., Gordon, J., Carlson, C., Steffen, A., Tyack, P., Evans, P. & Whitehead, H. (2014) Behavior and social structure of the sperm whales of Dominica, West Indies. Marine Mammal Science, 30, 905–922.
