Ecological Baseline Studies of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Option Year 2

Keywords: Observation, Occurrence, Occurrence,Marine Animal Survey,Marine Biology,Seabirds,Marine mammals,Sea turtles,Visual Sighting,Aircraft
Temporal coverage: 2019/2020

Original provider:
APEM, Normandeau Associates

Dataset credits:
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Normandeau 
Associates Inc., APEM Ltd.

Abstract:
Normandeau Associates, Inc., and APEM Inc. (Team) have been contracted 
by BOEM to complete quarterly high-altitude aerial digital surveys in a 12-
month period. The Team proposes to conduct the first survey in May 2019 
and complete all four surveys in the 2020 calendar year.

The South Atlantic Survey area (SASA) is defined as the area of the ocean 
off the coast of North and South Carolina out to the -30-m contour line. The 
approximate size of the area is 11,000 square nautical miles. 

Transect surveys will cover a minimum of 5% of the SASA.In addition, 10% 
of the total area within the Kitty Hawk, Wilmington East, and Wilmington 
West Wind Energy Areas –as well as the South Carolina–Grand Stand Call 
Area will be surveyed.

The planned image resolution of all the imagery for the project will be 1.5-
cm ground sampling distance at the surface of the ocean.

Option Year 2 includes four surveys of each these areas from May 2019 to 
Feb 2020.

Supplemental information:
[2022-06-07] The following recorded species names got their assigned scientific names corrected.
BLACK SCOTER: Melanitta nigra americana =&gt; Melanitta nigra
GREAT SHEARWATER: Aythya marila =&gt; Puffinus gravis
GREAT SKUA: Puffinus gravis =&gt; Stercorarius skua
GREATER SCAUP: Stercorarius skua =&gt; Aythya marila

The areas defined for survey were the South Atlantic Survey Area (SASA), 
Kitty Hawk (KH) Wind Energy Area (WEA), Wilmington East (WE) WEA, 
Wilmington West (WW) WEA, Grand Stand Call Area (GSCA), Charleston Call 
Area (CCA), and fish spawning areas SMZ 51 (A51) and SMZ 53 (A53). SASA 
surveys are linear transects flown in a saw tooth pattern out to the -30-m 
contour line along the entire South Carolina and North Carolina coasts. 
These surveys included the CCA, A51 and A53 areas. The overlap portion of 
SASA and CCA is designated “SASA,CCA”; the overlap portion of SASA and 
A51 is designated “SASA,A51”; and the overlap portion of SASA and A53 is 
designated “SASA,A53”.The WEAs and GSCA areas are grid surveys through 
the area plus a 1NM buffer. 

GSCA and WW share survey overlap and that overlap portion is designated 
as “GSCA,WW”.The SASA survey area overlaps portions of CCA, A51 and A53 
areas and overlapped areas are designated by the area name “SASA,CCA”; 
“SASA,A51”; or “SASA,A53”. GSCA and WW also share survey overlap and 
that area is designated by “GSCA,WW”.DISCLAIMERStudy concept, 
oversight, and funding were provided by the US Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Environmental Studies 
Program, Washington, DC, under Contract Number M17PC00010; Order 
M17PD00063. This report has been technically reviewed by BOEM, and it 
has been approved for publication. The views and conclusions contained in 
this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as 
representing the opinions or policies of the US Government, nor does 
mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement 
or recommendation for use.