Data files for: Movements and residency of fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in the California Current System Corresponding Author Name: Erin Falcone Institution: Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research Address: 2468 Camp McKenzie Tr NW Seabeck, WA 98380 USA Email: efalcone@marecotel.org Date of data collection: 1987 to 2018 Geographic locations of data collected: Waters of the California Current Ecosystem from N24 to N49 degrees latitude, up to 485 km from shore File list: This repository contains two files with individual photographic sighting histories for fin whales - one-per-day.csv - A csv data table with one record for each date a whale was identified - one-per-region-year.csv - A csv data table with one record for each year-region a whale was identified File relationship: The one-per-region-year.csv file is a subset of the one-per-day.csv file, filtered to the record from the first date each whale was photographed in a given region-year. There are currently no additional versions of this dataset, though these records are derived from a catalog that was actively curated as of the publication date of the associated manuscript, with both historical and future data being added continuously. ID corrections are also occasionally made, and thus these data are considered representative of the collection at the time of analysis. one-per-day.csv # A csv data table with one record for each date a whale was identified # 2024 rows of data with one header row # The csv contains the following fields: ## ID- (Number) an integer identifying each individual in the catalog ## Research.Group- (Text) a code identifying the organization that contributed the photograph and sighting data for this identification ## Project.Objective- (Text) a code representing a coordinated survey effort during which the data were collected. Data with this field set to "Opportunistic" are citizen science data, "NA" values indicated research data where the project was not provided. ## Date- (Date) The date the identification was made, m/d/yyyy ## Vessel- (Text) a code identifying the vessel from which the identification was made ## Sighting- (Text) a code representing the group of individuals, or encounter, from which the identification was collected on a given vessel-date ## Region- (Text) the commonly used name for the Region in which the identification was made, as assigned by the data collector ## Sub.area- (Text) the commonly used name for the subarea in which the identification was made, as assigned by the data collector ## Locality- (Text) the commonly used name for the Locality in which the identification was made, as assigned by the data collector ## Loc.Code- (Integer) A numeric code for the general area in which the identification was made ## Y- (Decimal) The decimal latitude of the identification. These locations have been generalized to the nearest full decimal degree. ## X- (Decimal) The decimal longitude of the identification. These locations have been generalized to the nearest full decimal degree. ## Est.Size.Best- (Integer) the best estimate of total group size. "NA" indicates the group size was not reported. ## FieldID- (Text) A temporary indentifier to distinguish among individuals within a sighting ## Qual.L- (Decimal) the overall quality score for the best image of the left flank from this sighting. It is the average of the individual quality scores for proportion of the body visible, exposure/contrast, and sharpness on a scale of 1-3, with 1 the best and 3 the worst. "NA" indicates the left side was not photographed. ## Qual.R- (Decimal) the overall quality score for the best image of the right flank from this sighting. It is the average of the individual quality scores for proportion of the body visible, exposure/contrast, and sharpness on a scale of 1-3, with 1 the best and 3 the worst. "NA" indicates the right side was not photographed. ## Year- (Integer) the year in which the identification was made ## day- (Integer) the julian day on which the identification was made ## best- (Decimal) the overall best quality image of the whale from the sighting, across sides. It is the average of the individual quality scores for proportion of the body visible, exposure/contrast, and sharpness on a scale of 1-3, with 1 the best and 3 the worst. ## sits.in.day- (Integer) the number of different sightings in which the whale was identified on that date ## zone- (Text) the latitudinal zone in which the identification was made, see the main manuscript for zone definitions ## KM- (Integer) the distance in kilometers from the mainland coast at which the identification was made ## Xshore- (Decimal) The decimal longitude of the nearest point of land on the mainland coast from the identification location ## Yshore- (Decimal) The decimal latitiude of the nearest point of land on the mainland coast from the identification location one-per-region-year.csv # A csv data table with one record for each year that an individual was identified in a defined zone of the study # 1263 rows of data with one header row # This csv contains the same fields as one-per-day.csv, but is a filtered subset of that data with a single record (the first date) for each whale in each year-zone it was identified.