The TNASS (Trans North Atlantic Sightings Survey), Southern New England to Scotian Shelf Abundance (SNESSA), and Cetacean Offshore Distribution and Abundance (CODA) surveys were large-scale international efforts to assess the abundance and distribution of various marine megafauna in many regions of the north Atlantic. These surveys were conducted in the summer and fall of 2007, and their effort collectively facilitates the first pan-Atlantic estimation of distribution and abundance for a number of marine mammal species, many of which exhibit transboundary migrations.
Prior to the TNASS, the North Atlantic Sightings Surveys (NASS) were coordinated international surveys carried out using aircraft and vessel platforms. The NASS surveys were incomplete for the north Atlantic area by not having coverage in adjacent Canadian waters. The discontinuity is all the more striking since the National Marine Fisheries Service in the United States also conducted complementary surveys to the south of Atlantic Canada at the same time as the NASS. Further effort to the southeast of the TNASS studies in 2007 was the CODA survey of the western European shelf.
This workshop will provide participants an overview of the rationale, methods, analytical approach, and results (with many anecdotes!) from the TNASS survey, along with summary presentations describing the results of the SNESSA, and CODA surveys as well. Workshop attendees will be invited to comment and contribute to further analysis and interpretation. It is planned that a report will be created from these deliberations that will summarize and perhaps integrate the results of the three surveys, and provide suggestions and solutions for further analyses and future surveys at similar scales.
During the full-day workshop coffee, tea, and water will be available for attendees during the morning and afternoon breaks.