Bukhtiyarov, Yuri A. USGS Alaska Science Center - Walrus Research Program 20240111 tabular digital data Anchorage, Alaska U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center Suggested Citation: Bukhtiyarov, Y.A., USGS Alaska Science Center - Walrus Research Program, 2024, Morphological measures of Pacific walruses collected in the Chukchi and Bering Seas 1972-1991: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9D1IKH9 https://doi.org/10.5066/P9D1IKH9 This dataset contains morphological measures of Pacific walruses sampled in the Chukchi and Bering Seas between 1972 and 1991. From 1972 through 1991 the Soviet Union employed industrial methods to harvest and process Pacific walruses to enhance the Russian Far East economy. Under the oversight of the Pacific branch of the Soviet All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), offshore harvesting crews worked from specialized marine mammal hunting ships (ZRS) throughout the spring, summer, and early autumn in the marginal sea ice habitats of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. They launched small (~7 m) wooden boats to approach walruses resting on ice pans, which were dispatched with standard hunting rifles. Harvested walruses were hauled back to the ZRS vessel for processing. Soviet cruises that contributed data to this dataset include ZRS Zagoriany (1976 spring), Surveyor (1978 spring), ZRS Zubarevo (1978), ZRS Zagorskii (1980 March 6 - April 23), ZRS Zvyagino (1981 February - March), KS Entuziast (1982 July 25 - August 23), ZRS Zakharova (1984 autumn, 1985 March 15 - April 26 and 1987 autumn), ZRS Zaslonovo (1991 March 28 - May 21). Beginning in 1981 harvesting extended into United States waters of the Pacific Arctic with permission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the auspices of the 1972 Area V bilateral agreement in the area of the environment. This bilateral agreement enabled direct liaison between Soviet and U.S. biologists who then arranged to collaborate collecting data from these offshore harvest efforts that may be used to understand basic walrus biology and monitor changes in their condition and reproductive success. Throughout the harvesting efforts, trained biologists inspected, measured, and weighed walrus specimens that had been landed onto the processing vessel. Harvest locations, observations, and measurements were recorded into numbered journals and standardized datasheets. This dataset contains these data. Originally these data were managed by VNIRO, however, to promote data curation during the post-Soviet period VNIRO formed an agreement with USGS Alaska Science Center (which at the time was the U.S. National Biological Survey) to maintain a copy of these data and provide access to them for studies vetted by representatives of the original data collection agency. This current database is published with permission of the original data curator, Dr. Yuri Bukhtiyarov. The purpose of this data collection effort was to measure the size and weight of Pacific walruses. 1972 1991 observed Complete None planned Chukchi and Bering Seas -180.0000 -155.0391 73.1759 51.1242 USGS Metadata Identifier USGS:ASC589 ISO 19115 Topic Category Biota Environment NASA GCMD Earth Science Keyword Thesaurus Animals/Vertebrates Mammals Carnivores Seals/Sea lions/Walruses Species life history USGS CSA Biocomplexity Thesaurus Threatened species Marine mammals Animal morphology Body composition USGS Thesaurus Wildlife Marine ecosystems Coastal ecosystems None Pinniped Walrus Pacific Walrus Odobenus rosmarus divergens USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Alaska Chukchi Sea Bering Sea NGA GEOnet Names Server Russia None Mammals Carnivore ITIS Integrated Taxonomic Information System Unknown online database online ITIS-North America Taxonomic details retrieved January 3, 2024 from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System online database: https://www.itis.gov https://doi.org/10.5066/F7KH0KBK Species were identified by skilled observers in the field based on general appearance. Taxonomy is complete for all samples. No vouchers were collected. Kingdom Animalia Subkingdom Bilateria Infrakingdom Deuterostomia Phylum Chordata Subphylum Vertebrata Infraphylum Gnathostomata Superclass Tetrapoda Class Mammalia Subclass Theria Infraclass Eutheria Order Carnivora Suborder Caniformia Family Odobenidae Genus Odobenus Species Odobenus rosmarus Walrus TSN: 180639 Subspecies Odobenus rosmarus divergens Pacific Walrus TSN: 622045 No access constraints. No use constraints. We request that the suggested citation of this USGS data release be included in any publications that reference or utilize these data. U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center Mailing and Physical

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Anchorage Alaska 99508 USA 907-786-7000 gs-ak_asc_datamanagers@usgs.gov Yuri Bukhtiyarov, Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (PIFO), Nagaevskaya 51, Magadan 685013, USSR All values in the dataset are provided, including possibly erroneous values. No formal attribute accuracy tests were conducted. Data quality control steps are described in the Process section of this metadata record. Some attribute values fall beyond expected ranges (likely due to data recording errors), these are indicated by three fields in the table "walrus_morphology_chukchiBering_1972-1991.csv", which flag unexpected length, weight, and girth values (based on the expected ranges for the sex and age of the measured walrus). All values in the dataset are provided, including possibly erroneous values. Fay, F.H. Kelly, B.P. 1982 document Anchorage, Alaska U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Office of Special Studies Fay, F.H., Kelly, B.P., 1982. Herd composition and response to disturbance of walruses in the Chukchi Sea. Cruise Report for KS Entuziast, 25 July - 23 August 1982, NOAA OCSEAP Research Unit 0611. Unpublished report 13 pp Unpublished report archived by the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) https://www.arlis.org [Special Collections — OCSEAP Reports; citation #4732] publication 1982 publication date Fay and Kelly 1982 Describes field methods and measurement details Fay, F.H. 1982 document Anchorage, Alaska U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Office of Special Studies Fay, F.H., 1982. Ecology and biology of the Pacific Walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens Illiger. North American Fauna 74(74):1-279 doi:10.3996/nafa.74.0001 https://doi.org/10.3996/nafa.74.0001 publication 1982 publication date Fay 1982 Describes field methods and measurement details Hills, S. Robson, B.W. Seagars, D.J. 1991 document Anchorage, Alaska U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Office of Special Studies Hills, S., Robson, B.W., Seagars, D.J., 1991. Cruise Report: USSR-US Joint Pinniped Research, ZRS Zaslonovo, Bering Sea 28 March - 21 May 1991. USA-USSR Agreement on cooperation in the Field of Environmental protection, Area V. Protection Nature and the Organization of Preserves, Project 6: Marine Mammals, 28 pp Unpublished report archived by the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) https://www.arlis.org [reference code: ILS:55490098] https://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/55490098.pdf publication 1991 publication date Hills et al. 1991 Report describing the sampling methods for the data provided in this release. Kibal'chich, A.A. Dzhamanov, G.K. 1986 document Moscow, Russia All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kibal'chich, A.A., Dzhamanov, G.K., 1986. [Materials concerning the biology of pinnipeds of the northern part of the Bering Sea in winter (ZRS Zakharovo, 1984)] pp 53-59. In: Popov, L.A. (ed) [Scientific research work on marine mammals of the northern Pacific Ocean in 1984/85] (in Russian; translated by Pearson, S. and Fay, F.H.) Unpublished report archived by the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) https://www.arlis.org [reference code: ILS:385857] http://hdl.handle.net/1834/30841 publication 1986 publication date Kibal'chich and Dzhamanov 1986 Report describing the sampling methods for the data provided in this release. Kibal'chich, A.A. 1979 document Moscow, Russia All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kibal'chich, A.A., 1979. [Materials on study of pinnipeds obtained during cruise of the ZRS Zubarevo in the Bering and Chukchi Seas (July-August 1978)] pp 7-16. In: [Scientific research work on marine mammals of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean in 1978-79] (in Russian) . publication 1979 publication date Kibal'chich 1979 Report describing the sampling methods for the data provided in this release. Kibal'chich, A.A. 1981 document Moscow, Russia All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kibal'chich, A.A., 1981. [Materials on the biology of the Pacific walrus: cruise of the ZRS Zagorskii in the western part of the Bering Sea in 1980] pp 7-12. In: Popov, L.A. (ed) [Scientific Investigational Work on Marine Mammals in the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean 1980-81] (in Russian) . publication 1981 publication date Kibal'chich 1981 Report describing the sampling methods for the data provided in this release. Kibal'chich, A.A. 1988 document Moscow, Russia All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kibal'chich, A.A., 1988. [Data on the biology of the Pacific walrus expedition of the Zakharovo hunting and fishing vessel in 1985] pp 126-141. In: Chernysheva, N.S. (ed) [Scientific research on sea mammals of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean in 1986-1987] (in Russian); Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, no. 5506 Unpublished report archived by the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) https://www.arlis.org [reference code: ILS:1428234] . publication 1988 publication date Kibal'chich 1988 Report about sampling that contributed to the dataset. Popov, L.A. Kibal'chich, A.A. Bukhtiyarov, Y.A. Yurakhno, M.V. 1981 document Moscow, Russia All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Popov, L.A., Kibal'chich, A.A., Bukhtiyarov, Y.A., Yurakhno, M.V., 1981. [Materials from investigation of pinnipeds during the expedition on the ZRS Zvyagino in the Bering Sea, February-March 1981] pp 38-54. In: Popov, L.A. (ed) [Scientific Investigational Work on Marine Mammals in the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean 1980-81] (in Russian; translated by Fay, F.H.) . publication 1981 publication date Popov et al. 1981 Report about sampling that contributed to the dataset. Gromov, I.M. Gureev, A.A. Novikov, G.A. Sokolov, I.I. Strelkov, P.P. Chapskii, K.K. 1963 document Moscow-Leningrad, Russia Akademii Nauk SSSR Gromov, I.M., Gureev, A.A., Novikov, G.A., Sokolov, I.I., Strelkov, P.P., Chapskii, K.K. (eds), 1963. Mammalian fauna of the U.S.S.R. Volume 2:641-2000. Akademii Nauk SSSR, Moscow-Leningrad . publication 1963 publication date Gromov et al. 1963 Describes the standard morphological measurements of Pacific walruses. Ryg, M. Lydersen, C. Markussen, N.H. Smith, T.G. Oritsland, N.A. 1990 journal article online Canadian Science Publishing Ryg, M., Lydersen, C., Markussen, N.H., Smith, T.G., Oritsland, N.A., 1990. Estimating the blubber content of phocid seals. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 47(6):1223-1227 doi:10.1139/f90-142 https://doi.org/10.1139/f90-142 publication 1990 publication date Ryg et al. 1990 Describes the standard morphological measurements of Pacific walruses. FIELD: From 1972 through 1991 the Soviet Union employed industrial methods to harvest and process Pacific walruses to enhance the Russian Far East economy. Under the oversight of the Pacific branch of the Soviet All-Union Scientific Investigational Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), offshore harvesting crews worked from specialized marine mammal hunting ships (ZRS) throughout the spring and summer marginal sea ice habitats of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. They launched small (~7 m) wooden boats to approach walruses resting on ice pans, which were then dispatched with standard hunting rifles. Harvested walruses were hauled back to the ZRS vessel for processing. Soviet cruises that contributed data to this dataset include ZRS Zagoriany (1976 spring), Surveyor (1978 spring), ZRS Zubarevo (1978), ZRS Zagorskii (1980 March 6 - April 23), ZRS Zvyagino (1981 February - March), KS Entuziast (1982 July 25 - August 23), ZRS Zakharova (1984 autumn, 1985 March 15 - April 26 and 1987 autumn), ZRS Zaslonovo (1991 March 28 - May 21). Beginning in 1981 harvesting extended into United States waters of the Pacific Arctic with permission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the auspices of the 1972 Area V bilateral agreement in the area of the environment. This bilateral agreement enabled direct liaison between Soviet and U.S. biologists who then arranged to collaborate collecting data from these offshore harvest efforts that may be used to understand basic walrus biology and monitor for changes in their condition and reproductive success. Throughout the harvesting efforts, trained biologists inspected, measured, and weighed walrus specimens that had been landed onto the processing vessel. Harvest locations, observations, and measurements were recorded into numbered journals and standardized datasheets. Unknown DATA QUALITY CONTROL: We created three quality control columns in table "walrus_morphology_chukchiBering_1970-1991.csv" to identify records with illogical values for weight, length, and girth. The criteria used to determine illogical values are as follows: We set "QC_weight_fail" to 'TRUE' for records that meet any of the following conditions: weight > 3700 Kg; weight > 200 Kg and age = 0; weight < 100 and age > 0; weight < 200 Kg and age > 4; weight > 1200 Kg and sex = F; weight missing; age missing; sex unknown and age > 2. We set "QC_girth_fail" to 'TRUE' for records that meet any of the following conditions: girth < 30 cm; girth > 400 cm; girth < 150 and age > 0; age missing; girth missing. We set "QC_length_fail" to 'TRUE' for records that meet any of the following conditions: length < 40 cm; length > 600 cm; length > 400 cm and sex = F; length > 200 cm and age = 0; length > 250 cm and age = 1; length > 300 cm and age = 2; sex unknown and age > 2; age missing; length missing. Unknown DATA QUALITY CONTROL: We reviewed notations on the hemisphere (eastern or western) recorded in an original version of the data table to ensure that the longitude was correctly assigned. We reviewed locations and adjusted illogical locations that fell outside of the Pacific walrus range. Locations recorded far inland, far to the north of the continental shelf, or south of any previously reported location for female walruses were adjusted to match previous or subsequent recorded locations when such locations were present and were logically consistent with the Pacific walrus range. Some recorded locations remained outside the Pacific walrus range, falling far inland, however no prior or subsequent contemporaneous records were available on which we could base an adjustment. For a small number of records the date was not recorded. In those cases, we assigned the median of the previous and subsequent measurement dates. Unknown Point 0.001 0.001 Decimal degrees Unknown Unknown 6378137 298.257223563 walrus_morphology_chukchiBering_1972-1991.csv Table with morphological measures of free-ranging Pacific walruses collected during 1972-1991. Presented in a Comma Separated Value (CSV) formatted table. Author defined NN Unique identifier assigned to each animal in the dataset. Author defined Unique identifier of each walrus. Id_nn Unique identifier assigned to each animal in the original field data sheets. The numerals before the decimal are sequential numbering, the numerals after the decimal are the measurement year. Blank cells indicate that the identifier was not provided. Author defined Unique identifier assigned to each animal in the original field data. Date The date when the walrus was measured. Author defined 1972-06-19 1991-10-05 Date (YYYY-MM-DD) Region Indicates if the walrus was in the Bering or Chukchi Sea at the time of measurement. Blank cells indicate that the location was not recorded. Author defined Chukchi The walrus was in the Chukchi Sea at the time of measurement. Author defined Bering The walrus was in the Bering Sea at the time of measurement. Author defined Latitude The latitude of the walrus at the time of measurement in decimal degrees. Author defined 56.34 71.38 Decimal degrees (datum unknown) Longitude The longitude of the walrus at the time of measurement in decimal degrees. Author defined -179.50 179.52 Decimal degrees (datum unknown) Sex The sex of the walrus that was measured. Author defined F The walrus was a female. Author defined M The walrus was a male. Author defined U The sex was not recorded. Author defined Age The age of the walrus that was measured, in years. Blank cells indicate that the age was not recorded. Author defined 0 37 Years Length_zoological Curvilinear length along the body surface from the anteriormost tip of the snout to the posteriormost tip of the tail flesh, with the animal lying on its back, in centimeters. Blank cells indicate that the zoological length was not recorded. *Note: All values in the dataset are provided, including possibly erroneous values. Please refer to the 'QC_length_fail' field, which flags unexpected length values. Author defined 3 712 Centimeters Length_standard The 'standard length' of the walrus, in centimeters. Either the straight-line distance between the tip of the snout and the tip of the tail flesh, with the animal lying flat on its back and the neck extended or the straight-line distance from nose to tail with the animal lying on its belly and the spine arched (Gromov et al. 1963). Blank cells indicate that the standard length was not recorded. Author defined 59 531 Centimeters Weight The weight of the walrus, in kilograms. Blank cells indicate that the weight was not recorded. *Note: All values in the dataset are provided, including possibly erroneous values. Please refer to the 'QC_weight_fail' field, which flags unexpected weight values. Author defined 40 8760 Kilograms Girth The full girth of the walrus, measured behind the front flippers, in centimeters. Blank cells indicate that the girth was not recorded. *Note: All values in the dataset are provided, including possibly erroneous values. Please refer to the 'QC_girth_fail' field, which flags unexpected girth values. Author defined 1 330 Centimeters Blubber_thickness Thickness of the blubber, in millimeters. Blubber depth was measured ventrally at the sternum when possible (Fay 1982, Popov 1981). When not possible, blubber depth was measured dorsally at a point approximately 60% of the zoological length up from the tail (Ryg et al. 1990). The data records do not indicate whether a measurement was taken ventrally or dorsally. Blank cells indicate that the blubber thickness was not recorded. Author defined 15 630 Millimeters Heart_weight Weight of the heart, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the heart weight was not recorded. Author defined 395 9950 Grams Lung_weight Weight of the lungs, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the lung weight was not recorded. Author defined 920 99005 Grams Diaphragm_weight Weight of the diaphragm, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the diaphragm weight was not recorded. Author defined 310 70003 Grams Liver_weight Weight of the liver, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the liver weight was not recorded. Author defined 1450 52000 Grams Kidney_weight Weight of the kidneys, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the kidney weight was not recorded. Author defined 150 5350 Grams Spleen_weight Weight of the spleen, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the spleen weight was not recorded. Author defined 90 8500 Grams Stomach_weight Weight of the stomach, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the stomach weight was not recorded. Author defined 200 9990 Grams Pancreas_weight Weight of the pancreas, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the pancreas weight was not recorded. Author defined 270 12000 Grams Testes_length Length of the testes, in centimeters. Blank cells indicate that the testes length was not recorded or the walrus was female. Author defined 8.5 66.2 Centimeters Testes_weight Weight of the testes, in grams. Testes weight was taken in aggregate with the epididymides attached (Hills et al. 1991, Kibal'chich et al. 1981). Blank cells indicate that the testes weight was not recorded or the walrus was female. Author defined 2 4500 Grams Testes_diameter Diameter of the testes, in centimeters. Blank cells indicate that the testes diameter was not recorded or the walrus was female. Author defined 2.5 9.0 Centimeters Tusk_length Tusk length, in centimeters. Blank cells indicate that the tusk length was not recorded. Author defined 1.5 87.0 Centimeters Tusk_weight Tusk weight, in grams. Blank cells indicate that the tusk weight was not recorded. Author defined 200 7680 Grams Tusk_diameter Tusk diameter, in centimeters. Blank cells indicate that the tusk diameter was not recorded. Author defined 9 49 Centimeters QC_length_fail Quality control test of length values, to flag unexpected length values. Author defined FALSE The length is within the expected range for the sex and age of the measured walrus. Author defined TRUE The length is not within the expected range for the sex and age of the measured walrus. Author defined QC_weight_fail Quality control test of weight values, to flag unexpected weight values. Author defined FALSE The weight is within the expected range for the sex and age of the measured walrus. Author defined TRUE The weight is not within the expected range for the sex and age of the measured walrus. Author defined QC_girth_fail Quality control test of girth values, to flag unexpected girth values. Author defined FALSE The girth is within the expected range for the sex and age of the measured walrus. Author defined TRUE The girth is not within the expected range for the sex and age of the measured walrus. Author defined U.S. Geological Survey USGS ScienceBase Team Mailing and Physical

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Denver Colorado 80225 USA 1-888-275-8747 sciencebase@usgs.gov The U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center is the authoritative source of these data, distributed by ScienceBase (a USGS Trusted Digital Repository). Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data for other purposes or on all computer systems, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. CSV Tabular data in CSV format; FGDC metadata in XML and HTML formats. https://doi.org/10.5066/P9D1IKH9 None 20251203 U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center Mailing and Physical

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Anchorage Alaska 99508 USA 907-786-7000 gs-ak_asc_datamanagers@usgs.gov FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) FGDC-STD-001.1-1999