Service Description: Several bureaus within the Department of Interior compiled available information from seabird observation datasets from the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf into a single database, with the goal of conducting research and informing coastal and offshore planning activities. The cooperators were the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) Environmental Studies Program http://www.boem.gov/Environmental-Stewardship/Environmental-Studies/Environmental-Studies.aspx, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Division of Migratory Bird Management http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/ and the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/20 years old) datasets, the amount of recent data is limited and therefore maps showing only these data may be limited spatially. Finally, effort calculations do not account for survey width, while normally static during a survey, can be reduced during certain conditions and does vary by survey method, especially boat vs. plan surveys. The vast majority of survey data collected offshore U.S. Atlantic waters were collected using similar techniques and so effort data will not be greatly affected by such discrepancies. Still, such differences do exist and were not accounted for; therefore, this estimate of survey effort is a rough surrogate for effort. Consequently, the effort-adjusted counts will also be affected by differences in survey methodology and should be considered only roughly offset by effort. Click here for FGDC Metadata