Marine Wildlife Behavior Database
Metadata

Section 5: Bottom Behavior
This section includes fields that describe the behavior of animals in the deepest portion of their dive profile (80% of the dive’s maximum depth). Depth off the seafloor refers to altitude, where the frame of reference (zero point) is the seafloor and animals are distributed a given distance above the seafloor in the water column. Wiggles are ascent-descent excursions that occur during bottom time. Wiggle count is defined as the number of ascent-descent occurrences during bottom time that differ by greater than twice the resolution of the TDR (Schreer et al., 2001). Wiggle distance is the depth difference between the deepest and shallowest parts of a wiggle (Schreer et al., 2001).

Fields:

• Depth off Seafloor Minimum
  BB_DepthOffSeafloorMin(m): The shortest distance the animal was measured off the seafloor (meters); this will correspond to the deepest part of the animal's dive.
  
  
• Depth off Seafloor Maximum
  BB_DepthOffSeafloorMax(m): The greatest distance the animal was measured away from the seafloor (meters); this will correspond to the shallowest part of the animal's bottom time.
  
  
• Depth off Seafloor Mean
  BB_DepthOffSeafloorMean(m): The mean or average distance the animal is distributed off the seafloor (meters).
  
  
• Depth off Seafloor Median
  BB_DepthOffSeafloorMedian(m): The middle value in the distribution of distances off the seafloor (meters). If there is an even number of depths, it is the average of the two middle values.
  
  
• Depth off Seafloor Mode
  BB_DepthOffSeafloorMode(m): The most common distance off the seafloor; in the frequency distribution, the distance with the greatest number of frequencies (meters).
  
  
• Depth off Seafloor Standard Deviation
  BB_DepthOffSeafloorStdDev: To express the degree of dispersion in the distance from the bottom data, the standard deviation (square root of the variance) should be entered (meters).
  
  
• Wiggle Count
  BB_WiggleCount: The number of ascent-descent occurrences during the bottom time that differ by more than two times the resolution of the TDR (integer).
  
  
• Wiggle Distance Minimum
  WiggleDistMin(m): The minimum depth difference between the deepest and shortest parts of a wiggle (meters).
  
  
• Wiggle Distance Maximum
  BB_WiggleDistMax(m): The maximum depth difference between the deepest and shortest parts of a wiggle (meters).
  
  
• Wiggle Distance Mean
  BB_WiggleDistMean(m): The mean or average depth difference between the deepest and shortest parts of a wiggle (meters).
  
  
• Wiggle Distance Median
  BB_WiggleDistMedian(m): The middle value in the distribution of depth differences between the deepest and shortest parts of a wiggle (meters). If there is an even number of wiggles, it is the average of the two middle values.
  
  
• Wiggle Distance Mode
  BB_WiggleDistMode(m): The most common depth difference between the deepest and shortest parts of a wiggle; in the frequency distribution, the wiggle distance with the greatest number of frequencies (meters).
  
  
• Wiggle Distance Standard Deviation
  BB_WiggleDistStdDev: To express the degree of dispersion in the wiggle distance data, the standard deviation (square root of the variance) should be entered (meters).
  
  
• Bottom Speed Maximum
  BB_BottomSpeedMax(m/s): Maximum speed relative to the horizontal during the bottom time (meters per second)
  
  
• Bottom Speed Minimum
  BB_BottomSpeedMin(m/s): Minimum speed relative to the horizontal during the bottom time (meters per second)
  
  
• Bottom Speed Mean
  BB_BottomSpeedMean(m/s): The mean or average bottom time speed (meters per second)
  
  
• Bottom Speed Standard Deviation
  BB_BottomSpeedStdDev: To express the degree of dispersion in the bottom time speed, the standard deviation (square root of the variance) should be entered (meters per second)
  
  
• Comments
  BB_Comments: Free-form field to note complications with data entry, information to review at a later date, etc.