Table 1. Summary of validation data sets.

Survey Acronym	IWC-IDCR	NASS	SWFSC-ETP
Survey Name	International Whaling Commission - International Decade of Cetacean Research	North Atlantic Sightings Survey	Southwest Fisheries Science Centre - Eastern Tropical Pacific Surveys
Agency/Source	IWC Member State collaboration	North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)	US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) - SWFSC
Time period	1978–2001	1987, 1989, 1995 & 2001	1986–1990 and 1992–93
Ocean basin	Antarctica (S of 60° S)	NE Atlantic	Eastern Tropical Pacific
No. of sighting events	∼35000	∼7500	∼8800
No. of identified species reported	31	17	34