Dataset: Post-COVID Galapagos Megafauna Sizes

The effect of changing levels of scuba diver disturbance, from a low during the 2020 COVID 19 lockdown to normal levels nearly a year later (July - August 2021) on the body sizes of 6 species of marine megafauna (sharks, sea lions and rays) was sampled to test the hypothesis the megafauna community would differ between the lockdown and post-lock down period 1 year later. These data are from the period after the COVID 19 lockdown in July-August 2021. The presence and size of the megafauna was recorded by extended duration video cameras that recorded from a fixed position at 12-15 m depth at each of the 6 sites. These were GoPro7 cameras in an aluminum housing with a battery pack to enable 6-8 hrs of continuous video recording. All megafauna species seen within 5 meters distance from the camera were identified to species. Total body lengths of megafauna were estimated within 5 cm increments by comparing them to known size indicators in the videos. These data were collected by Drs Robert Lamb, Jon Witman and Franz Smith. Rebecca Ward-Diorio worked up the data from the GoPro files. The GoPro file names are provided for reference. Day trips to support scuba based research on board the MV Valeska, a 14 m long fiberglass boat. Various trips between October 1, 2020 to August 31, 2021, with Jon Witman as Chief Scientist