After entering the NZ fur seal ID in the on survey effort form, go to the on survey seal sheet.
Under NZ fur seal detection ID, enter the ID that was just entered into the on survey effort form.
Click the retrieve survey details button at the top of the sheet.
When prompted by a pop-up window, select the cell in which the detection ID was entered and click OK.
If successful, a pop-up window stating ‘transferred’ appears. Click OK. An ID that has been used already cannot be inputted, and a warning appears if an ID that does not exist on the effort sheet is selected. The date, array status, environmental conditions, and number of observers appear automatically.
Manually enter the time, and the vessel latitude and longitude.
| Data field | Instructions |
| GPS waypoint number | Enter the waypoint to the animal, same as detection ID (e.g. S001), plus ‘a’ (e.g. S001a). Only one waypoint is required for NZ fur seals but they still ask for the ‘a’ |
| GPS waypoint coordinates inputs | Copy data from GPS software. For example, copy from waypoints tab in Garmin MapSource (comment/date and position) |
| Ship’s course (true) | Enter the vessel’s true course in degrees, not heading |
| Bearing to mammal (true) | Enter the true bearing to the mammal |
| First distance to obs (m) | Enter distance from observer to animal in metres |
| Observation point | Select the observation point from the dropdown menu. These correspond to those entered on the cover page. Leave the cell blank if it isn’t one of them |
Once the above data are entered, the distance to source is calculated automatically; however using this during a sighting to determine if an animal is within a mitigation zone is discouraged, as it distracts from observing.
| Data field | Instructions |
| Marine mammal distance to source manual entry (optional) | This is used when the calculated distance is unsuitable (e.g. the vessel is steaming without gear), or the PAM operator wishes to have an independent calculation |
| Behaviour at first sight | Select behaviour from dropdown menu |
| General movement | Select from dropdown menu |
| Closest distance to source | Enter distance |
| Behaviour closest to source & general subsequent movement | Select from dropdown menu |
| Depth – no. adult/juv – no. pups | Enter values |
| Distance method | Select option from dropdown menu of how distance to the animal was estimated |
The next fields (array status, etc.) will be completed already. For mitigation response, select from the dropdown menu, and enter any comments, as required. Columns with light grey text are populated automatically to calculate the position of the animal.
