http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset/986917
eng; USA
utf8
dataset
Highest level of data collection, from a common set of sensors or instrumentation, usually within the same research project
Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Unavailable
508-289-2009
WHOI MS#36
Woods Hole
MA
02543
USA
info@bco-dmo.org
http://www.bco-dmo.org
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm
For questions regarding this resource, please contact BCO-DMO via the email address provided.
pointOfContact
2025-10-14
ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data
ISO 19115-2:2009(E)
Green turtle density in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, USA estimated by performing aerial surveys in 2016, 2017, and 2019
2025-12-18
publication
2025-12-18
revision
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI BCO-DMO)
2026-01-06
publication
https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.986917.1
Kenneth Heck
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
principalInvestigator
Dorothy Byron
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
principalInvestigator
Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Unavailable
508-289-2009
WHOI MS#36
Woods Hole
MA
02543
USA
info@bco-dmo.org
http://www.bco-dmo.org
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm
For questions regarding this resource, please contact BCO-DMO via the email address provided.
publisher
Cite this dataset as: Rodriguez, A., Byron, D., Heck, K. (2026) Green turtle density in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, USA estimated by performing aerial surveys in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO). (Version 1) Version Date 2025-12-18 [if applicable, indicate subset used]. doi:10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.986917.1 [access date]
St. Joseph Bay UAV Urchin survey Dataset Description: Methods and Sampling: <p>Data were collected on day-trips aboard a 21-foot powerboat in St. Joseph Bay, Florida during 5 survey events in 2016 (June 27-28; July 8-9; July 11-14; July 22-23; July 25-28), 1 survey event in 2017 (May 8-9), and two survey events in 2019 (August 2-3; September 9-10).</p>
<p>Methods are described in detail in Rodriguez et al. 2021. Criteria for sampling were that conditions had to be mostly sunny with winds no higher than 15 miles per hour (mph). A DJI Phantom 3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was remotely controlled with a handheld unit from a small boat, using a Samsung Nexus 7 tablet with the DJI Go app to maximize the display area. The parallel transects were 1 kilometer (km) and 0.5 km long, and were always flown east to west or west to east to minimize the likelihood of encountering an individual turtle more than once in a survey. The UAV flew at an altitude of approximately 15 meters in 1.5 km intervals across a 2000 hectare (ha) area in the southern portion of the bay at a speed of 5 to 10 kilometers per hour.</p>
Funding provided by NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) Award Number: OCE-1916989 Award URL: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award?AWD_ID=1916989
completed
Kenneth Heck
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
251-861-2141
101 Bienville Boulevard
Dauphin Island
AL
36528
USA
kheck@disl.org
pointOfContact
Dorothy Byron
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
251-861-2141, ext. 7502
101 Bienville Blvd
Dauphin Island
AL
36528
United States
dbyron@disl.org
pointOfContact
asNeeded
Dataset Version: 1
Unknown
Flight_Date
Survey
prevpost
flight
Waypoint
SG_transect1
SG_transect3
perc_vis_trans1
perc_vis_trans3
n_turtles_trans1
n_turtles_trans3
n
n_SG
n_SG_AB
km_trans1
km_trans3
total_km
km2_flight
Area_covered
density
density_SG
density_SG_AB
abundance
abundance_SG
abundance_SG_AB
DJI Phantom 3 UAV
theme
None, User defined
date
sample identification
sample description
site
number
track length
length
area
density
featureType
BCO-DMO Standard Parameters
Unmanned aerial vehicle
instrument
BCO-DMO Standard Instruments
otherRestrictions
otherRestrictions
Access Constraints: none. Use Constraints: Please follow guidelines at: http://www.bco-dmo.org/terms-use Distribution liability: Under no circumstances shall BCO-DMO be liable for any direct, incidental, special, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, the materials in this data submission. If you are dissatisfied with any materials in this data submission your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue use.
RAPID: Species on the Move: Tropicalization of Western Atlantic Seagrass Beds
https://osprey.bco-dmo.org/project/854168
RAPID: Species on the Move: Tropicalization of Western Atlantic Seagrass Beds
<p><em>NSF Award Abstract:</em><br />
This project builds on an ongoing project that studies the tropicalization of seagrass beds in the northern Gulf of Mexico (NSF award OCE-1737144, <a href="https://www.bco-dmo.org/project/750843">https://www.bco-dmo.org/project/750843</a>) where native species are prevented from moving north as temperature rises because of the continental land mass. Hurricane Michael opened a new pass from the Gulf of Mexico to St Joseph Bay, enabling elevated immigration of tropical species (e.g. parrotfish), and the associated winds and storm surge likely decimated green turtle populations. This project takes advantage of the hurricane's passage to study the interplay of turtles and parrotfish as consumers of the dominant seagrass and will support new and complemental sampling to evaluate the storm's effect on the ongoing tropicalization of St Joseph Bay. Seagrass communities provide major ecosystem services and their resilience to changing climate has consequences for coastal communities. This project will expand on the NSF-funded network to capture critical environmental information during this hurricane-induced natural experiment of increased species access. Training of two female early career scientists (one from an underserved group) will take place in addition to mentoring through collaborations with the partners of the network.</p>
<p>The recent passage of Major Hurricane Michael directly over the northernmost site (St. Joe Bay, FL) of the NSF collaborative project "Collaborative Research: The tropicalization of Western Atlantic seagrass beds" has raised additional questions regarding the trajectory and speed of the influx of tropical grazers along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Michael produced numerous overwash areas along Cape San Blas and opened a new pass from the Gulf of Mexico to St. Joseph Bay. This will likely alter salinities and water temperatures and bring additional larval and adult recruits to the Bay. Hurricanes have been documented to move species large distances from their low-latitude home ranges and while these can be only short-lived range shifts, there is potential for enhanced establishment in locations where tropicalization is already occurring owing to the decreasing frequency of cold winter temperatures. This study investigates to what extent these newly formed passes allow elevated immigration of tropically-associated species, such as the seagrass consuming emerald parrotfish into St. Joe Bay. Supporting new and complementary field activities, and leveraging the 12 year record of fish abundance and species composition in St. Joe Bay and the 2017 population estimate of green turtle abundance in the Bay are used to evaluate the storm's effects on the on-going tropicalization of St. Joe Bay that could dramatically affect the overall conclusions of our collaborators in other locations of the NSF funded network of sites.</p>
<p>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.</p>
Tropicalization in seagrass
largerWorkCitation
project
eng; USA
oceans
-85.4
-85.3
29.69
29.79
2016-06-27
2019-09-10
St. Joseph Bay (29.76N, 85.34W)
0
BCO-DMO catalogue of parameters from Green turtle density in St. Joseph Bay, Florida, USA estimated by performing aerial surveys in 2016, 2017, and 2019
Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Unavailable
508-289-2009
WHOI MS#36
Woods Hole
MA
02543
USA
info@bco-dmo.org
http://www.bco-dmo.org
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm
For questions regarding this resource, please contact BCO-DMO via the email address provided.
pointOfContact
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990789.rdf
Name: Flight_Date
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Date transect was flown by drone</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990790.rdf
Name: Survey
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Density survey number</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990791.rdf
Name: prevpost
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Whether this flight was before (pre) or after (post) Hurricane Michael.</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990792.rdf
Name: flight
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Flight number of the day, starting sequentially each day. 99 means these results are an averaged because transect was flown multiple times</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990793.rdf
Name: Waypoint
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Start point location. Begins with "DF"</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990794.rdf
Name: SG_transect1
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Sun glitter rank, or the estimated area of Transect 1 affected by sun glitter. 1=0-25%, 2=25-50% 3=50-75%, 4=75-100%</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990795.rdf
Name: SG_transect3
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Sun glitter rank, or the estimated area of Transect 3 affected by sun glitter. 1=0-25%, 2=25-50% 3=50-75%, 4=75-100%</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990796.rdf
Name: perc_vis_trans1
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Average % visibility of the screen affected by sun glitter in Transect 1, based on the average of assigned sun glitter rank in Column D. 12.5%, 37.5%, 62.5%, or 87.5%</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990797.rdf
Name: perc_vis_trans3
Units: unitless
Description: <p>Average % visibility of the screen affected by sun glitter in Transect 1, based on the average of assigned sun glitter rank in Column E. 12.5%, 37.5%, 62.5%, or 87.5%</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990798.rdf
Name: n_turtles_trans1
Units: unitless
Description: <p>number of green turtles observed in transect 1</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990799.rdf
Name: n_turtles_trans3
Units: unitless
Description: <p>number of green turtles observed in transect 3</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990800.rdf
Name: n
Units: unitless
Description: <p>number of green turtles observed in whole waypoint flight (sum of transects 1 & 3)</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990801.rdf
Name: n_SG
Units: unitless
Description: <p>number of green turtles in whole waypoint flight after correcting for sun glitter</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990802.rdf
Name: n_SG_AB
Units: unitless
Description: <p>number of green turtles in whole waypoint flight after correcting for sun glitter and availability bias (i.e. amount of time green turtles spend at visible depth [18%] as suggested by Fuentes et al 2015)</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990803.rdf
Name: km_trans1
Units: kilometers
Description: <p>length flown in Transect 1</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990804.rdf
Name: km_trans3
Units: kilometers
Description: <p>length flown in Transect 3</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990805.rdf
Name: total_km
Units: kilometers
Description: <p>total length flown in whole waypoint flight</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990806.rdf
Name: km2_flight
Units: square kilometers
Description: <p>visible area flown in whole waypoint flight (taking camera field of view into account - FOV = 14.6m x 20.8m)</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990807.rdf
Name: Area_covered
Units: hectares
Description: <p>visible area flown in whole waypoint flight (taking camera field of view into account) converted to hectares</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990808.rdf
Name: density
Units: number per hectare
Description: <p>Number of green turtles per hectare</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990809.rdf
Name: density_SG
Units: number per hectare
Description: <p>Number of green turtles per hectare accounting for sun glitter</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990810.rdf
Name: density_SG_AB
Units: number per hectare
Description: <p>Number of green turtles per hectare accounting for sun glitter and availability bias</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990811.rdf
Name: abundance
Units: number per hectare
Description: <p>Estimated green-turtle Baywide density, calculated by multiplying the density/ha by the total available seagrass habitat (2000 ha)</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990812.rdf
Name: abundance_SG
Units: number per hectare
Description: <p>Estimated green-turtle Baywide density accounting for sun glitter, calculated by multiplying the density/ha + SG by the total available seagrass habitat (2000 ha)</p>
http://lod.bco-dmo.org/id/dataset-parameter/990813.rdf
Name: abundance_SG_AB
Units: number per hectare
Description: <p>Estimated green-turtle Baywide density accounting for sun glitter and availability bias, calculated by multiplying the density/ha+SG+AB by the total available seagrass habitat (2000 ha)</p>
GB/NERC/BODC > British Oceanographic Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, United Kingdom
Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Unavailable
508-289-2009
WHOI MS#36
Woods Hole
MA
02543
USA
info@bco-dmo.org
http://www.bco-dmo.org
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm
For questions regarding this resource, please contact BCO-DMO via the email address provided.
pointOfContact
https://doi.org/10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.986917.1
download
onLine
dataset
<p>Data were collected on day-trips aboard a 21-foot powerboat in St. Joseph Bay, Florida during 5 survey events in 2016 (June 27-28; July 8-9; July 11-14; July 22-23; July 25-28), 1 survey event in 2017 (May 8-9), and two survey events in 2019 (August 2-3; September 9-10).</p>
<p>Methods are described in detail in Rodriguez et al. 2021. Criteria for sampling were that conditions had to be mostly sunny with winds no higher than 15 miles per hour (mph). A DJI Phantom 3 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was remotely controlled with a handheld unit from a small boat, using a Samsung Nexus 7 tablet with the DJI Go app to maximize the display area. The parallel transects were 1 kilometer (km) and 0.5 km long, and were always flown east to west or west to east to minimize the likelihood of encountering an individual turtle more than once in a survey. The UAV flew at an altitude of approximately 15 meters in 1.5 km intervals across a 2000 hectare (ha) area in the southern portion of the bay at a speed of 5 to 10 kilometers per hour.</p>
Specified by the Principal Investigator(s)
<p>As described by Fuentes et al. (2015), there are several biases inherent when performing aerial surveys on animals that only spend a small amount of their time at the surface of the water. One is availability bias, or when animals in a transect are not detected due to environmental conditions (water depth, turbidity, glare, cloud cover, habitat, etc.) and animal characteristics (body size, body color, diving patterns, etc.), and the second is perception bias, or when observers miss animals available for detection. Because transects were recorded and the footage was viewed twice, perception bias was minimized. To account for availability bias, I used the amount of time turtles spent at visible depth, reported by Fuentes et al. (2015) (18% of a green turtle's time spent between depths 0 to 2.5 meters) to more accurately calculate density. Each transect was also corrected for sun glitter, which is a subjective estimate of the percent area of the video affected by sun glitter (0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, and &gt;75%) and used in estimating the final abundances (Hodgson et al. 2013). Density for each flight was estimated as individuals per hectare using the equation below:</p>
<p><strong>Turtle density</strong> (individuals ha-1) = <strong>n</strong> (# of turtles) / <strong>area covered</strong> (ha)</p>
<p><strong>n</strong> was calculated three ways: (1) the raw number of turtles seen in a transect, (2) the number of turtles in a transect as determined after using the sun glitter correction factor for each transect, and (3) the previous value divided by 0.18 as suggested by Fuentes et al. (2015) to account for availability bias. Green turtle bay-wide abundance was calculated for each density by multiplying the density by the area (2,000 ha).</p>
Specified by the Principal Investigator(s)
- Imported original file "SJB_Turtle_surveys_drone.txt" into the BCO-DMO system.
- Marked "NA" as a missing data value (missing data are empty/blank in the final CSV file).
- Renamed fields to comply with BCO-DMO naming conventions.
- Converted dates to YYYY-MM-DD format.
- Saved the final file as "986917_v1_green_turtle_density_uav.csv".
Specified by BCO-DMO Data Managers
asNeeded
7.x-1.1
Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO)
Unavailable
508-289-2009
WHOI MS#36
Woods Hole
MA
02543
USA
info@bco-dmo.org
http://www.bco-dmo.org
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm
For questions regarding this resource, please contact BCO-DMO via the email address provided.
pointOfContact
DJI Phantom 3 UAV
DJI Phantom 3 UAV
PI Supplied Instrument Name: DJI Phantom 3 UAV Instrument Name: Unmanned aerial vehicle Instrument Short Name:UAV Instrument Description: Any untethered heavier-than-air aircraft that is not occupied by people; may be a remotely piloted aircraft or an autonomous aircraft. Also referred to as a drone.