Serious weaknesses of the data include that (1) transect dimensions were not consistent even within survey sites, and have not generally been recorded on datasheets; (2) survey locations are generally given as place names which are at least somewhat meaningful (e.g. the Monument site at Kealakekua Bay is in front of Cook's Monument), but lat/long of start and end points are not given, and even more fundamentally depth ranges are not given; and (3) some surveys were conducted on SCUBA and some on snorkel but, again, that has not been consistently recorded on datasheets.
Additional DAR data from other locations and dates are planned for digitization.
Resource Description: NODC Accession Number 0002754
All surveys done by pairs of divers (or snorkellers) either following a transect or a known stretch of shoreline. Divers swam in parallel recording the number, size (in inches) and taxa of all fishes within non-overlapping transects (i.e. each diver maintained a separate count-- the data were later pooled). Transect widths were generally 40ft (20ft on either side of each observer) for divers on snorkel and 20ft (10ft on each side of each observer) for snorkel surveys.
At Waikiki , surveys started and ended at known shoreline reference points, but mostly had lengths of around 300 to 400yds. For that location only, survey area estimates in the database are likely to be reliable.
At all other locations, survey lengths were generally (but apparently not always) 250yds. The survey transect was demarcated by laying out a weighted line from a boat starting from a standard triangulated position (location of which was known to existing staff) and in a standard direction. After a full 250 yd line has been laid out, the boat would return to the starting point and 2 divers or snorkellers would enter the water and follow the laid out line (hence considerable variability among the exact areas covered each time).
The attached database includes a record for each survey, with location and date (and when know, observers), and with information on whether surveys were done by snorkel and survey. For each record, survey area (m2) is given based on a variety of existing DAR records. It is probably reasonable to assume that survey areas of Waikiki transects are accurate, but all others are potentially wildly inaccurate. Default assumption for non-Waikiki should be that surveys were 250 yds long by 80ft wide for SCUBA surveys (each diver doing 250yds*40ft) and half that for snorkel surveys. However, as should be very apparent, it would be wise to rely too heavily on those assumptions.
Data were not centrally stored in electronic form, but copies of data sheets can still be unearthed at various storage areas in the DAR Oahu office. Starting in late 2003, DAR staff have gradually entered some of the data into an MS Access database, ie., the data included here. Considerably more data exists on data sheets for a variety of locations on Hawaii and Maui, and from Hanauma Bay on Oahu, and will be added to this database over the coming years.
filename comment DAR DJ Fish Survey.mdb MS Access database of surveys DAR DJ Fish Surveys Notes.doc documentation
II. NODC Archive Files Directory: ../../data/nodc
filename comment DJ_Notes.doc rename of DAR DJ Fish Survey.doc DJ_Notes.txt ASCII copy of DJ_Notes.doc DJ_Survey.mdb rename of DAR DJ Fish Survey.mdb
The following files are TABLES from this database as MS Excel spreadsheets (*.xls) and redundant ASCII comma separated versions (*.csv). 1. Location.xls and Location.csv Field Name Comment SiteID The code is usually generated using the first letter of the island and two letters of the site name, (ie., Oahu, Hanauma Bay = O_HA) SiteName common name for the survey location Area general description of the area and DAR management status Island the island where the survey is located DARVariants Other variations of site codes that are used within DAR for data entry
2. Round.xls and Round.csv Field Name Comment RoundID Code by year Start Date beginning date of surveys for given year End Date ending date of surveys for given year MethodCode RES.FISH refers to Resource Fish method Mid Date middle of survey period
3. Species_List.xls and Species_List.csv Field Name Comment TaxonID standardized taxa ID SpeciesCode internal DAR code Common Name name commonly used Family specimen family DAR Code internal DAR code Hawaiian Name Hawaiian language name Synonym other names for the same species
4. Surveys.xls and Surveys.csv Field Name Comment SiteforRoundID internal DAR code RoundID see table Round SiteID see table Location Date Date of survey Comments DJ Sheet Found? yes or no Original DAR file filename Notes Survey Area (ft) feet squared Survey Area (m2) meters squared Snorkle/Scuba which type File Survey Area (ft2) feet squared Sheet Survey Area (ft2) feet squared Visibility (ft) distance of sight (feet) DJ Survey Code internal DAR code Observer1 Observer name Observer2 Observer name Observer3 Observer name
5. Transect.xls and Transect.csv Field Name Comment TransectRunID DAR internal use SiteforRoundID see table Surveys ObserverID DAR internal use Date date of transect Time time of transect Transect DAR internal use DJ Survey Code DAR internal use ValidData yes/no
6. TransectObservations1.xls and TransectObservations1.csv Field Name Comment ObservationID DAR internal use TransectRunID DAR internal use, see Table Transect SpeciesCode see Table Species Number count of given species Size (cm) size of species Variant unused Notes Valid Data yes/no
7. TransectObservations2.xls and TransectObservations2.csv (see TransectObservations1, the original table had to be broken into two speadsheets during export from MS Access).