Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey Project (BWASP)
Historical Database
1979-2006
MMS conducted aerial surveys from 1987-2007 aimed at evaluating the distribution and habitat use of bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea during the fall migration period. Similar MMS-supported surveys have been conducted during the bowhead migration in the Beaufort Sea & Chukchi Sea since 1979. Beginning in 2007, the surveys are being conducted with MMS support by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Marine Mammal Laboratory through an interagency agreement. Data from all of these surveys are combined in a single database referred to as the BWASP database. In general, these data are intended to be used to: 1) evaluate inter-year differences in the area used by the whales during migration; 2) monitor trends in the distribution, relative abundance, habitat, and behavior (especially feeding) of endangered whales in arctic waters; 3) provide real-time data to MMS and NMFS on the general progress of the fall migration of bowhead whales across the Alaskan Beaufort Sea for use in protection of this species; and 4) provide an objective area-wide context for management interpretation of bowhead migrations and site-specific study results. Observations are also taken on other marine mammals and included in the database.The file below is the BWASP master database that includes all data from 1979-2006.
Please read our disclaimer prior to downloading files from the Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey Program database files below. Download a copy of the file you want by clicking on Delimited, or Access (Microsoft Access), under the Download column of the table below. The Delimited format provides the date fields delimited with quotes (") and separated by commas (,). Once you have downloaded the data and have decompressed the file using WinZip, the data can then be imported into a variety of database or spreadsheet packages to facilitate queries or reports.
File Name Download Unzipped Size 5.9mb Zipped
(22.6mb Unzipped)
BWASP 2008 Preliminary Data l 2007 BWASP Preliminary Data l 2007 BWASP Final Data