Adelie penguin foraging trip duration records for Bechervaise Island, Mawson since 1991-92. Data include average male and female foraging trip durations for both the guard and creche stages of the breeding season. Data based on records of tagged birds crossing the APMS for in and out crossings. Durations determined from difference between out and in crossings in conjunction with nest census records. Data included only for birds which were known to be foraging for a live chick. This work was completed as part of ASAC Project 2205, Adelie penguin research and monitoring in support of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Project. The fields in this dataset are: Year trip duration (hours) Mean , standard error, count and standard deviation for male and female foraging trips during guard and creche stages of the breeding season.

This indicator is no longer maintained, and is considered OBSOLETE. INDICATOR DEFINITION Demographic parameters for the Adelie penguin at Bechervaise Island near Mawson. TYPE OF INDICATOR There are three types of indicators used in this report: 1.Describes the CONDITION of important elements of a system; 2.Show the extent of the major PRESSURES exerted on a system; 3.Determine RESPONSES to either condition or changes in the condition of a system. This indicator is one of: CONDITION RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION The Adelie penguin is a relatively long lived sea bird dependent on krill. It is expected that major changes in the availability of food (krill) to sea birds will be reflected ultimately in recruitment into the breeding population. Causes of changes in the availability of krill relate directly to changes in both the biological and physical environment brought about by man made or natural means. Ageing populations may give an outward appearance of stability in terms of numbers at a breeding colony but such a condition may mask a decline in recruitment. To determine whether there are environmental influences on the population it is necessary to undertake detailed demographic studies. Demographic studies carried out over many years on animal populations comprising known age cohorts are required to determine those factors responsible for any observed changes in recruitment and/or mortality. Population reconstruction techniques provide estimates of recruitment and mortality and relate these functions to population size and/or population trends. These studies may alert us to possible changes in the ecosystem particularly related to the availability of food to the penguins or changes to the physical environment. The identification of the cause of changes must come from detailed investigations of food availability and the environment carried out at the same time. Annual breeding success at Bechervaise Island (eggs laid to chicks fledged) varies enormously from 0 in catastrophic years to above 1 for good seasons. The population at Bechervaise Island near Mawson has been monitored since 1990 as part of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program. Chicks and adults have been tagged annually. The number of breeding pairs has increased slightly between 1990-2001, but changes in the non -breeding population are unknown. Demographic studies based on the return rate of birds tagged as chicks provide information on trends in the overall population and the net rate of recruitment. Since it is intended that this program be undertaken indefinitely it makes this population an excellent subject for monitoring in the context of the SOE. DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM Spatial Scale: Restricted to the Mawson region. Similar studies are carried out by other national research programs at Terra Nova Bay (Italy) and on the Antarctic Peninsula (USA). Frequency: Annual Measurement Technique: The Adelie penguin population at Bechervaise Island consists of approximately 1800 breeding pairs. Each breeding season since 1990/91 in excess of 250 chicks have been given implanted electronic identification tags. The return of birds to their natal colony has been detected automatically by the Automated Penguin Monitoring System (APMS)or by checking all birds with a hand held tag reader. Additional and associated biological data as prescribed by CCAMLR (1997 are collected to aid interpretation of demographic and other trends. To detect trends in the population size and in demographic parameters, particularly of recruitment, it will be necessary to maintain an annual tagging program of chicks and recording of all tagged birds. RESEARCH ISSUES comprehensive analysis of the data collected over the duration of this study is required to determine natural variation and potential anthropogenic influences affecting Adelie penguin population dynamics. LINKS TO OTHER INDICATORS Sea-ice extent and concentration.

The following are excerpts from Ensor and Bassett (1987). A census by counts and estimates of Adelie penguin chicks on the George V Land coast of Antarctica between Commonwealth Bay and Buchanan Bay was undertaken during January 1982. Sections of colonies were photographed for comparison with photographs taken in 1913 during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition; positions and sizes of sub-colonies appeared unchanged after an interval of 68 years. Observations on the distribution of breeding Antarctic fulmars, Cape petrels, Snow petrels, Wilson's storm-petrels and South polar skuas are presented. This report describes the breeding status of seabirds, particularly Adelie penguins, on the George V Land coast of Antarctica between Commonwealth Bay (67 degrees S, 142.5 degrees E) and Buchanan Bay 67.1166 degrees S, 144.6666 E). The area was visited in January 1982 during the Mawson anniversary expedition of the Oceanic Research Foundation (ORF) on the schooner Dick Smith Explorer. The observations on the breeding of seabirds were conducted as a contribution to the International Survey of Antarctic Seabirds (ISAS) designed to investigate the abundance and distribution of seabirds in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Of particular interest to this program is the the population status of Adelie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae. The George V Land coast has seldom been visited. The main expeditions to the area have been the 1911-13 Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) and the 1929-31 British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE). Falla (1937) summarised the biological observations made during these expeditions, including estimates of the numbers of Adelie penguins breeding in the Cape Denison area (67 degrees S, 142.6666 degrees E). The Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions and Expeditions Polaires Francaises have also made visits. The present observations provide a recent estimate of the breeding population of Adelie penguins in the area. Since the authors' visit to the colonies was late in the breeding season, estimates of numbers were restricted to chicks. The number of chicks gives an approximation of the number of pairs of penguins breeding but due to annual variations in breeding success, these estimates are not as reliable as the direct counts of occupied nests that can be made during the incubation period. The 1981-82 ORF expedition was based at Cape Denison between 11 and 30 January 1982 where a census of Adelie penguin chicks and observations on the breeding of other birds was conducted. A camp was established on the Mackellar Islands (66.9666 degrees S, 142.65 degrees E) from 12 to 14 January to enable a census of penguin chicks to be made. On 30 January the expedition departed Cape Denison towards the Mertz Glacier tongue (154.3333 degrees E). The cruise track of the vessel followed approximately the outer limit of islets of the Way Archipelago (143.6666 degrees E) and passed close to Moyes Islands (143.85 degrees E) and Hodgeman Islands (144.25 degrees E). Brief visits were made to two islets in the Way Archipelago, Stillwell Island (143.8 degrees E) and an unnamed islet near Garnet Point (143.7666 degrees E). En route to the Mertz Glacier, a planned landing at Cape Hunter (66.95 degrees S, 142.3333 degrees E) to investigate the breeding population of seabirds including a large colony of Antarctic petrels Thalassoica antarctica (Falla 1937), had to be abandoned due to the onset of high winds. Adelie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae Locations of Adelie penguin colonies and counts and estimates of the numbers of chicks in each colony are given in a spreadsheet available at the url below. The total numbers of Adelie penguin chicks on the coast between Cape Denison and Buchanan Bay was 55,242. At Cape Denison, on the Mackellar Islets and on Stillwell Island, direct counts of chicks were made. Counts were replicated until a 5% accuracy was achieved. To aid the counting, the distribution of guano

Adelie colony boundaries at Bechervaise Island were mapped by Matthew Pauza on the 21 Dec 2016. Subcolonies were mapped by circumnavigating the perimeter on foot while carrying a Garmin GPS (Etrex30) to record the track. When mapping the perimeter of the subcolonies a buffer distance of approximately 2.5 meters was maintained between the mapper and the breeding birds. This buffer distance was reduced by .5m to between 2m in the final shapefiles. Please refer to the Seabird Conservation Team Data Sharing Policy for use, acknowledgement and availability of data prior to downloading data.

We assessed reproductive success for the Adelie penguin colonies breeding on the Windmill Islands (Whitney Point, Odbert Island, Shirley Island, Blakeney Point 66°15' S, 110°33' E) from the 2011/12 – 2020/21 breeding seasons. We modelled nest survival against a range of potential environmental and behavioural drivers assessed over the same time period which are described below. Sites: We used four different sites with five camera locations for this study: Odbert Island = Odbt1, Shirley Island = Shrl1, Blakeney Point = Blak1, Whitney Point camera site 1 = Whit1, Whitney Point camera site 2 = Whit2. Individual nest identifier: For each nest, we developed a unique nest identifier (Year_Site_Nest). This includes the breeding season and camera site the nest was observed in, and also the number of the nest (1-10) observed. Reproductive success data: We used two metrics of reproductive success, breeding success and nest survival to creche. Breeding success was recorded as 0, 1, or 2 for each nest (0 = no chicks, 1 = one chick, 2 = two chicks). Nest survival was measured as binomial data and collected as 0,1 where 0 = nest failure and 1 = at least one chick survived to creche (Success.Fail). Nest failure occurred when either the parents abandoned the nest, both eggs failed to hatch, or chicks died. Failure and creche dates were recorded and the number of days since October 1 were calculated (Nest_Fail_date and Creche_Date). The breeding phase when failure occurred was noted for failed nests (Fail_Period). See BehaviouralData.csv. Environmental covariates: Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and Southern Annular Mode (SAM) SOI and SAM values were averaged for the October – January (SOI_OctJan and SAM_OctJan) and the April to October (SOI_JulyJune, SAM_JulyJune) periods to correlate with the Adelie penguin reproductive cycle and the winter season respectively. The NOAA Climate Prediction Centre https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/daily_ao_index/aao/monthly.aao.index.b79.current.ascii.table provided the SAM values, while the Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/soi/ provided the SOI data. SOI values range from ~-35 - +35, and the value is quoted as a whole number, and we used monthly values to obtain our reproductive cycle and winter value averages. SAM values are collected on an index where positive and negative values relate to different polar pressures, and similarly to SOI, values we used for reproductive cycle and winter season averages were collected monthly. See file BehaviouralData.csv. Fast ice extent (Fast_Ice) Shapefiles of fast-ice distribution in the Windmill Islands were obtained from the Natice website www.natice.noaa.gov. We measured the shortest distance between the four study sites and the fast-ice edge in ArcGIS during mid-November for each breeding season during the study (2011/12 – 2020/21). See file BehaviouralData.csv. Potential foraging overlap (Foraging_Intensity) Here, values were based on those presented in Southwell et al. (2021). This data is estimated using the ‘foraging radius approach’ developed by Critchley et al. (2018) and Handley et al. (2021) and recent population estimates for the region’s breeding sites, the distance between penguin breeding sites, and foraging distances from colonies to estimate the degree of potential overlaps between local breeding penguins when foraging at sea. See file BehaviouralData.csv. Windchill (WC) Mean windchill (°C) was calculated for incubation, guard, and creche for each breeding season. These are calculated from ambient air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity recorded at Casey Station using the formula provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology http://www.bom.gov.au/info/ thermal_stress/. We calculated values for incubation, guard, and creche during each breeding season, and also for the period of time prior to incubation when penguins are arriving at the nest (arrival windchill: AWC; incubation: IWC;

All subcolonies on Bechervaise Island were mapped with a hand held GPS (Garmin Legend) on the 9th of January 2013). The mapping was undertaken by Julie McInnes and Helen Achurch. The colonies were mapped at a constant 2m buffer. If subcolonies were less than 2m apart they were mapped in the same outline, colonies greater than 2m apart were mapped separately. The final layer has a 2m buffer around the colony included in the layer. Please refer to the Seabird Conservation Team Data Sharing Policy for use, acknowledgement and availability of data prior to downloading data.

Intermittent Adelie penguin population counts for Bechervaise, Verner and Petersen Islands, Mawson since 1971. Data include counts of occupied nests for the post 1990/91 data conducted on or about 2nd December. Data collected prior to this were obtained from ANARE Research Notes or field note books. These counts may not have been performed at the 'optimal' time for occupied nests counts, and when this is the case have been adjusted according to a 'correction' factor. The post 1990/91 data were completed as part of ASAC Project 2205, Adelie penguin research and monitoring in support of the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Project. The fields in this dataset are: Year Bechervaise Island Counts Verner Island Counts Petersen Island Counts Date Season occ nests (occupied nests)

This dataset contains data on the habitats, distribution and numbers of Adelie Penguins (Pygoscellis adeliae) along the Vestfold Hills coast (including colonies on the mainland and offshore islands) during November 1973. The data are obtained from counts at the colonies and black and white photographs. Some aerial photographs were taken at Davis in 1981-82 and 1987-88, and will be compared to the results of this survey. The results are listed in the documentation. A total of 174178 26127 breeding pairs were counted. An increase in Adelie penguin population was found at most locations in East Antarctica. Data from this record has been incorporated into a larger Adelie penguin dataset described by the metadata record - Annual population counts at selected Adelie Penguin colonies within the AAT (SOE_seabird_candidate_sp_AP). It also falls under ASAC project 1219 (ASAC_1219).

The dataset contains boundaries of Adelie penguin breeding colonies at numerous breeding sites across east Antarctica. The boundary data were obtained using a range of methods which are detailed in separate spatial group-season accounts. The database of potential Adelie penguin breeding habitat in Southwell et al. (2016a) was used to associate colony boundaries to a particular breeding site and structure how the boundaries are stored. The breeding site database has a unique identifying code of every site of potential breeding habitat in East Antarctica, and the sites are aggregated into spatial sub-groups and then spatial groups. The file structure in which the boundaries are stored has a combination of 'group' and 'split-year breeding season' at the top level (eg VES 2015-16 contains all boundaries in spatial group VES (Vestfold Hills and islands) taken in the 2015-16 breeding season). Within each group-year folder are sub-folders for each breeding site where photos were taken (eg IS_72276 is Gardner Island in the VES group). Please refer to the Seabird Conservation Team Data Sharing Policy for use, acknowledgement and availability of data prior to downloading data.

This work was carried out by Graeme Smith between 1966 and 1970 as part of a PhD at the Australian National University. The dataset contains information about penguins killed in 1967 as part of the work. Also available for download is a copy of the thesis. Taken from the introduction of the thesis: Penguins are widely distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The distribution is circumpolar in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions, and ranges north to the southern coasts of Africa, Australasia and South America, where the range extends northwards up the western coast, and across to the Galapagos Islands. The Galapagos penguin is the most northern species, while the Emperor and the Adelie penguins are confined to the Antarctic. Although most species of penguins are found in the warmer zones of the Southern Hemisphere, and in many cases close to inhabited coasts, comparatively little is known about their biology. By contrast, the biology of the penguins of the remote sub-Antarctic islands and the Antarctic continent is well documented for a number of species. This anomalous situation is probably a result of the great interest shown in the Antarctic regions following Cook's voyages (1768-71 and 1772-75), and the comparatively limited number of species found in these regions. Also see the metadata record for work on Royal Penguins carried out at Macquarie Island between 1955 and 1969 - ID "RoyalPenguin1955-1969".