Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (Pacsea): Characterization of Seasonal Water Masses Within the Northern California Current System Using Airborne Remote Sensing off Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, 2011-2012

Publication Title: Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (Pacsea): Characterization of Seasonal Water Masses Within the Northern California Current System Using Airborne Remote Sensing off Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, 2011-2012

Subject: Physical Oceanography
Seabirds; Marine Mammals; Aerial Survey; Density; Distribution; California Current; Alternative Ocean Energy

CSE Reference: Schulien JA, Adams J, Felis JJ (US Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA). 2020. Pacific Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment (PaCSEA): characterization of seasonal water masses within the Northern California Current System using airborne remote sensing off northern California, Oregon, and Washington, 2011–2012. Camarillo (CA): US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 4 p. Obligation No.: M10PG00081. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2020-012. URL: https://espis.boem.gov/Technical%20Summaries/BOEM_2020-012.pdf

Abstract: Recent interest has increased in developing sources of renewable energy to reduce dependence on oil. Some of those sources will include power generation along the continental shelf of the U.S. Pacific coast beyond state waters. Marine birds and mammals comprise an important community of meso- and upper-trophic-level predators within the northern California Current System (NCCS). This study is a comprehensive seabird and marine mammal survey of the northern California, Oregon, and Washington coasts in order to build upon and provide a comparison with similar data from the earlier surveys. The objectives of this study include (1) conducting aerial at-sea surveys of seabirds and marine mammals in coastal shelf-slope waters off northern California, Oregon, and Washington, (2) summarizing population density results and conducting a 20-year comparison with 1989 surveys in Oregon and Washington, and (3) validating and enhancing aerial survey data for numerically abundant indicator species and important area breeding and migratory species. Adams et al. (2014) provides results from the first of these objectives, with the intention of providing additional reporting separately for the remaining objectives.