Original provider: NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Dataset credits: Sofie Van Parijs Abstract: The primary objectives of the NEFSC Marine Mammal Abundance Cruise were to: (1) determine the spatial distribution and abundance of cetaceans and turtles in the study region, (2) determine the spatial distribution and relative abundance of sea birds in the same region, and (3) use passive acoustics to record vocalizing cetaceans that will hopefully be used to improve the abundance estimates derived from the visual surveys. A secondary objective was to compare the distribution of these species with each other, physical characteristics, such as depth contours and water temperature, and biological characteristics, such as relative plankton distributions.