CoML Structure & Column Definitions
The Census of Marine Life data are separated into four files, linkable on voyageID and date:
- Daily vessel locations
- Whales encountered and captured
- Whaling vessels encountered
- Miscellaneous whale products
Daily vessel locations—Column definitions
| Column | Description |
| VoyageID | Voyage Identification Number |
| Lat | Decimal latitude |
| Lon | Decimal longitude |
| PosType | Source of Lat and Lon: L=Logbook; I = Interpolated; G= Gazetteer |
| Day | Day of Year |
| Month | Month of Year |
| Year | Year |
| Jul | Number of days since 1 Jan 1600 |
| Step | Number of days since previous entry |
| PlaceType | Categories of geography of location |
| PlaceName | Name of geographical location |
| PlaceOStop | Name of place where stopped |
| Landmark | Name of landmark assigning position |
| Location | Moving or not moving; at sea or at a place |
| Activity | In ice; not whaling, oil handling, unspecified |
| Comment.DT | Comment text by transcriber |
| SSInterest | Something of social science interest in log |
| NSInterest | Something of natural science interest in log |
| Vessel | Vessel name |
| VesselID | Vessel ID |
Whales encountered and captured—Column definitions
| Column | Description |
| VoyageID | Voyage Identification Number |
| Day | Day of Year |
| Month | Month of Year |
| Year | Year |
| Jul | Number of days since 1 Jan 1600 |
| Enc | Sighted whale; lowered boats; struck whale; dead whale |
| Species | Common name of whale encountered |
| Plural | Yes = more than one; No = single whale; Unk = unknown is one or more than one |
| Number_Struck | Number of whales struck |
| Number_Tried_Out | Number of whales tried out |
| Barrel_Yield | Barrels of oil |
| Escape_Detail | Text describing details if whale escaped |
| Ambiguity.Enc | Text describing ambiguity about encounter |
| Comment.Enc | Text about encounter |
| Wording.Enc | Wording from logbook about encounter |
| Wording.ST | Wording from logbook about strike |
| Comment.ST | Text about strike |
Whaling vessels encountered—Column Definitions
| Column | Description |
| VoyageID | Voyage Identification Number |
| Day | Day of Year |
| Month | Month of Year |
| Year | Year |
| Jul | Number of days since 1 Jan 1600 |
| Lat | Decimal latitude |
| Lon | Decimal longitude |
| VID.Spo | VOYAGEID for spoken vessel |
| Vessel.Spo | Name of spoken vessel |
| Captain.Spo | Name of spoken captain |
| Port.Spo | Home port of spoken vessel |
| Rig.Spo | Rigging of spoken vessel |
| Months.Spo | Months out from home port |
| Sperm.Spo | Barrels of sperm oil on spoken vessel |
| Whale.Spo | Barrels of whale oil on spoken vessel |
| Unspecifiedbbls | Barrels of unspecified oil on spoken vessel |
| InCoWith | Name of vessel working in company with spoken vessel |
| SharedWith | No=0; Yes=1 |
| Comment.x | Text by transcriber |
| Vessel | Name of vessel completing logbook |
| VesselID | ID of vessel completing logbook |
Miscellaneous whale products—Column definitions
| Column | Description |
| VoyageID | Voyage Identification Number |
| Lat | Decimal latitude |
| Lon | Decimal longitude |
| Day | Day of Year |
| Month | Month of Year |
| Year | Year |
| Jul | Number of days since 1 Jan 1600 |
| Type.of.Product | Text describing type of product |
| Product.Amount | Amount of product |
| Unit.of.Measurement | Units of Product.Amount |
| Handling.Description | Text describing handling of product |
| Comment.MP | Text comment |
| Vessel | Vessel name |
| VesselID | Vessel ID |