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    • Video transects of coral reefs on the west coast of the island of Hawaii collected from 2017-02-03 to 2017-02-08 (NCEI Accession 0172858)

    Metadata Updated: August 1, 2025

    This data set contains video transects of coral reefs on the west coast of the island of Hawaii collected during February of 2017. The videos are in MP4 format and include audio of the diver's comments noting observations of fish and coral species that were observed throughout the dive.

    To accomplish our goal of long-term monitoring of Hawaii coral reef health, the Seattle Aquarium's life sciences department began annually monitoring tropical reef fish abundance in both marine-protected and non-protected reef systems in 2009. We document changes in fish abundance and diversity over time to better understand shifting baselines. Understanding these changes is critical to forming policies that effectively manage reef communities in this fragile ecosystem. Our method is diver-based underwater video documentation along transects similar to those established in the late 1990s and early 2000's by Drs. Brian Tissot and Bill Walsh (Tissot and Hallacher 2003 and Tissot, Walsh and Hallacher 2004). Video-based transects allow repeatable annual measurements of fish diversity and abundance and coral cover to determine significant changes in species diversity or abundance (termed shifting baselines) with minimal disturbance in the area. In addition it creates a permanent document that can be viewed over and over to be used by future researchers and resource managers. We count all fish and percent coral cover observed on the video at seven sites ranging from Kona in the south to North Kohala in the north in both protected and non-protected areas.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date 2025-05-16T15:33:45Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date August 1, 2025
    Reference Date(s) May 12, 2018 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions

    Other Data Resources

    Graphic Preview

    Preview graphic

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date 2025-05-16T15:33:45Z
    Metadata Created Date December 4, 2020
    Metadata Updated Date August 1, 2025
    Reference Date(s) May 12, 2018 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nodc:0172858
    Access Constraints Cite as: Larson, Shawn (2018). Video transects of coral reefs on the west coast of the island of Hawaii collected from 2017-02-03 to 2017-02-08 (NCEI Accession 0172858). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/archive/accession/0172858. Accessed [date]., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
    Bbox East Long -155.84575
    Bbox North Lat 20.19528
    Bbox South Lat 19.64474
    Bbox West Long -156.0172
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update asNeeded
    Graphic Preview Description Preview graphic
    Graphic Preview File https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/gfx?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0172858
    Graphic Preview Type PNG
    Harvest Object Id 5874cc23-e057-47dc-a8ce-d15bdc941344
    Harvest Source Id c084a438-6f6b-470d-93e0-16aeddb9f513
    Harvest Source Title NOAA/NESDIS/ncei/accessions
    Licence accessLevel: Public
    Lineage
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-156.0172, 19.64474], [-155.84575, 19.64474], [-155.84575, 20.19528], [-156.0172, 20.19528], [-156.0172, 19.64474]]]}
    Progress completed
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2017-02-03
    Temporal Extent End 2017-02-08

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