Inlet Specific and Seasonal Variation in Vessel Use Patterns: The case of the Northeast Florida Region Nancy Montes Robert Swett University of Florida
Automatic Identification System (AIS) Ships 300 or more gross tons
Characterization of vessel traffic at the St Johns and St. Mary s channel entrances, northeast Florida, January 1993. Hain, J., Ellis, S., and Seward, P. 1994.. Final Report for MMC contract T94070460. NTIS PB94-204229. 56PP
Objectives Understand and model the spatial and temporal distribution of recreational boaters Examine the abundance and characteristics of vessel traffic in the Northeast Florida region. Explore the relationship between vessel traffic counts and climatic, spatial, temporal and vessel characteristics variables.
Study Site Georgia St. Mary s inlet Florida St. John s inlet Atlantic Ocean St. Augustine s inlet
Examine the abundance and characteristics of vessels transiting three principal inlets of Northeast Florida. Explore the relationship between the amount of observed vessels (events) and climatic, spatial, temporal and vessel characteristics.
Data collection 2011: 49 Sampling days (3-5 days per month) 30,000 events (vessel traffic)
Events 2 events (vessel traffic) 1 vessel Photo # 406: 7:30pm Photo # 6: 6:30am
Events January 1 st : Photo # 18 9:47am January 1 st : Photo # 654 5:40pm
Why Events? Why not vessels? Rain Objects Fog No name
Vessel traffic Results Monthly Vessel traffic by Inlet 2,500 2,000 1,500 St. Marys St. Johns St. Augustine 1,000 500 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Vessel type by month Runabouts 16% Other 11% Sailboats 6% Yachts 3% Com. Fishing 2% Sport Fishing 3% Center console 59%
What factors best explain the amount of vessel traffic that we are observing?
Location? Inlets?
Environmental Variables? 35 Average weather conditions during the inlet observations Sea surface temperature (Celsius) Wind speed (knots) 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Vessel traffic Vessel Types?
R e g r e s s i o n Variables Abundance of vessel traffic Wind Speed -WS Sea Surface Temperature -SST Vessel type: F = Open Fisherman/Center console R = Runabout (Bowrider, cuddy cabin, walkaround) OF = Sportfishing S = Sailboat CC = Yachts CF = Commercial fishing O = Others (military, cargo ships, tour boats, and official boats) Study site (inlet): St Marys St Johns St Augustine Season Peak (May, Jun, Jul) Shoulder (Mar, Apr, Aug, Sep, Oct) Off-peak (Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb) Weekly (days per month): Monday to Thursday Friday or Sunday Saturday Holiday Inlets Variable units Counts/effort Knots Celsius Categorical Categorical Categorical Categorical
Unstandardized Coefficients Model B Std. Error (Constant) -4.016.121-33.204.000 t Sig Environmental variables Sea Surface Temperature *Center console 1.085.035 31.179.000 Sea Surface Temperature * Runabouts.673.035 19.230.000 Sea Surface Temperature * Other vessels.527.042 12.404.000 Vessel traffic on Mondays to Thursdays -.676.062-10.832.000 Spatial Temporal Vessel type St. Augustine inlet * Sailing boats 1.473.159 9.285.000 Wind Speed -.638.084-7.580.009 St. Johns inlet * Other vessels.426.162 2.623.000 St. Mary s inlet * Sailing boats 1.441.159 9.053.000 Season (Mar, Apr, Aug, Sep, Oct) -.427.066-6.512.000 Season (Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb) -.513.068-7.595.000 St Mary s inlet * St. John s inlet -.630.094-6.731.000 Vessel traffic on Fridays and Sundays -.257.065-3.971.000 St. Mary s inlet * Sport fishing boats 1.055.165 6.386.000 St. Mary s inlet * Yachts.856.161 5.311.000 St. Augustine inlet * Sport fishing boats.867.164 5.281.000 St. Augustine inlet * Yachts.691.161 4.285.000 Wind Speed * Commercial Fishing boats.321.087 3.672.008 St. Augustine * St. Johns inlet -.243.092-2.646.000
Vessel traffic counts vary by location (inlets) Summary The composition of vessel types were also different in the three study sites Vessel traffic counts also vary by season (months) and by the day of the week There is an association between Vessel traffic counts Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Wind speed
The three inlets differ in the abundance and composition of vessel traffic thought the year Objectives Understand and model the spatial and temporal distribution of recreational boaters
Acknowledgements Field Team Rick Edwards Howard Lawson John Milio Jenna Manis Len Kreger David Thrall Mason Smith Scott Runion Chris Swett Daniel Soto Associated scientists Timothy Fik Charles Sidman Funding agencies NOAA Fisheries Services Southeast Regional Office Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Florida Sea Grant University of Florida
Questions? St. John s Inlet