Seabirds & Marine Mammals
CalCOFI Bird & Mammal Census
farallon_bird-mammalFarallon InstituteCustom terms stated by the providerv2026.09.05ingested
- years
- 1987–2022
- observations
- 69,661
- sampling events
- 34,394
- stations
- 104
- taxa
- 131
- depth
- 0–0 m
Overview
Bird and mammal observations along CalCOFI (and NMFS, CPR) cruise transects, 1987-present. Transect effort, counts, and species live from NOAA ERDDAP (CAC_FI_SBAS_tr / CAC_FI_SBAS_obs / CAC_FI_SBAS_sp); behavior lookups curated via CCE-LTER DataZoo 255 (PI Bill Sydeman).
Open with the provider
- Q09 citation_main — proposed
Access
Every endpoint this dataset can be reached through, grouped by how you would use it. Every URL is in the release record and answered when the release was cut.
Explore
Apps that read this dataset from the release. A row marked “this dataset” opens with it already selected.
https://calcofi.io/explore/?datasets=farallon_bird-mammal
https://app.calcofi.io/station/?dataset=farallon_bird-mammal
https://app.calcofi.io/hex/?datasets=farallon_bird-mammal
https://app.calcofi.io/cruise/?datasets=farallon_bird-mammal
Query
SQL against the release itself, in the browser — nothing to install and nothing downloaded until a query asks for it. __TBL:obs__ resolves to the pinned release’s parquet.
-- farallon_bird-mammal in the CalCOFI release v2026.09.05
SELECT *
FROM __TBL:obs__
WHERE dataset_key = 'farallon_bird-mammal'
LIMIT 100;https://calcofi.io/db-query/?sql=--+farallon_bird-mammal+in+the+CalCOFI+release+v2026.09.05%0ASELECT+%2A%0AFROM+__TBL%3Aobs__%0AWHERE+dataset_key+%3D+%27farallon_bird-mammal%27%0ALIMIT+100%3B#sql-shell--shell
Code
The same release, from a script.
con <- calcofi4r::cc_get_db()
calcofi4r::cc_cite("farallon_bird-mammal")con = calcofi4py.cc_get_db()
calcofi4py.cite("farallon_bird-mammal")SELECT * FROM read_parquet('https://storage.googleapis.com/calcofi-db/ducklake-staging/tables/obs/dataset_key=farallon_bird-mammal/da5fc5eb9b65dbc60fbec4be/data_0.parquet') LIMIT 100;Get the data
Every way to have the bytes, by source. Nothing here asks you to register first.
Files from the release (Parquet)
The frozen objects this release is made of. A partition holds only this dataset’s rows; a shared table holds every dataset’s, so filter on dataset_key.
https://storage.googleapis.com/calcofi-db/ducklake-staging/tables/obs/dataset_key=farallon_bird-mammal/da5fc5eb9b65dbc60fbec4be/data_0.parquet
https://storage.googleapis.com/calcofi-db/ducklake-staging/tables/taxon_group/b278ba2d8ce2addf2f9ecc35/taxon_group.parquet
CF netCDF
One self-describing file, for a tool that reads netCDF.
how far this file is CF
Fully CF: each row is an independent observation with its own time and position, which is a CF point collection. Rows are at the OCCURRENCE grain (event x taxon x life stage x depth), not the event grain, so a sample with many taxa contributes many points.
https://storage.calcofi.io/calcofi-files-public/netcdf/farallon_bird-mammal/v2026.09.04/farallon_bird-mammal.nc
ERDDAP (erddap.calcofi.io)
One ERDDAP dataset per grain, each with its own data formats and its own pages. Subset in the browser or query it from a script.
- length/stage frequency
- one row per size or stage class of a specimen
- observations
- one row per measurement, joined to the event it was taken on
- sampling events
- one row per cast, tow or transect — when, where and how it was sampled
From the provider
The dataset as its provider publishes it, before CalCOFI ingested it.
https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/CAC_FI_SBAS_obs.html
https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/CAC_FI_SBAS_tr.html
Metadata records
Records about the data, in the standards each portal harvests.
https://erddap.calcofi.io/erddap/metadata/iso19115/xml/farallon_bird-mammal_iso19115.xml
https://erddap.calcofi.io/erddap/metadata/fgdc/xml/farallon_bird-mammal_fgdc.xml
https://calcofi.io/datasets/farallon_bird-mammal.jsonld
https://calcofi.io/datasets/farallon_bird-mammal.json
https://calcofi.io/data.json
https://calcofi.io/stac/#/collections/farallon_bird-mammal/collection.json
Archives & portals
Where this dataset is registered outside calcofi.io, by the identifier each portal knows it as.
https://erddap.calcofi.io/erddap/info/farallon_bird-mammal/index.html
https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?packageid=knb-lter-cce.255.3
https://data.caloos.org/#module-metadata/2458d7c2-af69-4a76-abfb-195fb5aa8f14
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22281994
https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?packageid=knb-lter-cce.255.3
https://oceaninformatics.ucsd.edu/datazoo/catalogs/ccelter/datasets/255
Everything here is open — nothing on calcofi.io asks you to register first. If this dataset ends up in something you build or publish, register your use so it can be credited and linked back; to hear when a release changes it, stay informed. Questions: data@calcofi.io.
Cite
The provider has not confirmed a citation for this dataset yet. Cite the release below, and name the dataset by its key.
CalCOFI Bird & Mammal Census [dataset].
License: custom (https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/CalCOFI/app/resources/docs/Data_Sharing_Agreement_FarallonInstitute.pdf)BibTeX
@misc{farallon_bird-mammal,
title = {CalCOFI Bird & Mammal Census},
note = {License: custom (https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/CalCOFI/app/resources/docs/Data_Sharing_Agreement_FarallonInstitute.pdf)}
}…and the release it came from
CalCOFI (2026). CalCOFI Integrated Database, release v2026.09.05 [Data set]. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA Fisheries, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife. https://calcofi.io/db-schema/?v=v2026.09.05BibTeX
@misc{calcofi_release_v2026_09_05,
title = {CalCOFI Integrated Database, release v2026.09.05},
author = {CalCOFI},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Scripps Institution of Oceanography, NOAA Fisheries, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife},
url = {https://calcofi.io/db-schema/?v=v2026.09.05}
}