Stable isotope data, fatty acid and diet data was collected from a number of predator species in the southern ocean. Data was collected from blood, blubber, feathers and whisker samples

Data collected to measure foraging and reproductive success. Stored as time series data including mass, condition (fat stores), length, girth, offspring survival and growth. Data collected and methodology used varies depending on species.

A survey of seabirds off the coast between Port Lincoln, South Australia and Fremantle, Western Australia during December 1994 was conducted on the voyage 11/94 of the CSIRO Oceanographic Research Vessel Franklin. Mean abundances were calculated from a series of 10 minute counts by a human observer through the trip, with sea surface temperature, salinity, water depth, current speed and direction, sea conditions and visibility also measured. The following birds were recorded: Wandering Albatross; Royal Albatross; Shy Albatross; Black-browed Albatross; Yellow-nosed Albatross; Sooty Albatross; Northern Giant; Blue Petrel; Great-winged Petrel; Gould's Petrel; White-headed Petrel; White-chinned Petrel; Flesh-footed Shearwater; Short-tailed Shearwater; Wedge-tailed Shearwater; Fluttering Shearwater; Little Shearwater; Wilson's Storm-Petrel; White-faced Storm-Petrel; Black-bellied Storm-Petrel; Australasian Gannet; Black-faced Cormorant; Pomarine Jaeger; Silver Gull; Pacific Gull; Crested Tern; Common Tern; Bridled Tern; Sooty Tern

Metadata record for data expected from ASAC Project 2940 See the link below for public details on this project. Public: The extent of Antarctic winter sea-ice influences all aspects of the Antarctic marine food-web. We will use natural variations in inter-annual ice extent, to assess how a key component of that ecosystem, the predators, use the sea ice zone. Core foraging areas and dietary signals for a key Antarctic predator (Antarctic fur seal) will be identified. We will use newly developed, technology to track the animals, and stable isotopes to examine tropic linkages. Combined with satellite-derived sea-ice data, this will lead to the development of a model to predict how changing sea-ice patterns will influence Antarctic marine predator communities. Project Objectives: 1. Use large samples of newly-developed (and tested) animal-borne miniature geolocating light level recorders to population level information on the spatial extent of movements of Antarctic fur seals, thereby quantifying the extent of the use of the winter pack-ice and associated waters by these abundant predators. 2. To quantify how changes in winter ice extent influence the location of core foraging areas for this species. 3. To develop models to investigate how changing ice conditions in the future will influence the movements of this species and to examine a range of climate-change scenarios. Taken from the 2007-2008 Progress Report: No field work was conducted at Macquarie Island in the last 12 months. This was due to the decision by the state government to not issue permits for the work. With the help of our colleagues from BAS we did however manage to deploy 20 GLS light loggers on Antarctic fur seals at South Georgia. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Objective 1 has been revised to the study of Antarctic fur seals only (see below). Research is progressing well with 78 animals tracked in 2008 and a further 80 expected in 2009. Objectives 2 and 3 will follow once field data is available for both years (May 2010). Isotopic analysis of blood and whisker samples for the 2008 season will commence in May 2009 once samples have been received. Taken from the 2010-2011 Progress Report: Public summary of the season progress: This study has quantified the response of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) to inter-annual variation in oceanographic and winter ice conditions. We have measured the winter spatial foraging patterns of 66 adult females from three circum-Antarctic populations over two years (2008, 2009) during 114 trips to sea, while simultaneously recording in situ water temperature. Stable isotope analysis of fur seal blood and whisker samples indicates that adult females feed on a range of lower (krill) to higher (fish and squid) trophic levels across their winter range. Broad-scale habitat preferences across the range of the species indicate the importance of shelf, ice edge, frontal and oceanic and continental upwelling features in determining winter foraging movements.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2794 See the link below for public details on this project. Public: This study will use innovative technology to measure the winter spatial foraging patterns and net energy gain of adult female elephant seals (and potentially Weddell seals), while simultaneously providing high-resolution data on the physical nature of the water column in which the seals live. By combining biological and physical data with satellite derived sea-ice information, this study will improve our understanding of predator foraging success (and therefore mechanisms which regulate population trajectories) and provide physical oceanographers with fundamental data on the importance mechanisms that determine the winter ice and bottom water formation that under-pin the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Project objectives: The extent and nature of Antarctic winter sea ice is thought to have profound impacts on biological productivity, the recruitment of Antarctic krill, and the flow-on effects through the Antarctic marine food web. 1. Winter sea-ice formation is also hypothesised to play an important, yet highly-variable role in ocean circulation patterns through the production of cold, dense winter bottom water. 2. The mechanisms determining the inter-annual variation in winter ice formation are poorly understood, as are the complex feedback processes involved, but they are nonetheless recognised as being vulnerable to human-induced climate change. 3. Given the dynamically-linked nature of winter-ice and biological productivity, long-term climatic changes will have broad scale influences on Antarctic biota. This study will use innovative technological developments to quantify the response of one of the major Antarctic marine predators, the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), to inter-annual variation in winter ice conditions. We will measure the winter spatial foraging patterns and net energy gain of adult female elephant seals while simultaneously providing high-resolution data on the physical nature of the water column in which the seals are living. The combination of these biological and physical data with satellite-derived sea-ice information will relate variation in the winter-ice to broad scale biological production through the foraging success (maternal investment and therefore demographic performance) of a top Antarctic marine predator, as well as providing physical oceanographers with fundamental data on the important mechanisms that determine the winter ice and bottom water formation that under-pin the Antarctic marine ecosystem. The specific objectives are to: Measure the foraging performance of the seals in terms of spatially-specific net energy gain while at sea, in relation to intra- and inter-annual variation in sea-ice and oceanic processes. Use newly-developed (and tested) animal-borne satellite-linked Conductivity-Temperature-Depth Satellite Relay Data Loggers (CTD-SRDLs) to provide oceanographic quality data on local physical characteristics (temperature and salinity). Record fine-scale foraging parameters (dive depth, duration, swimming speed) using "Dead-Reckoning" Data Loggers (DRDLs) and feeding events using Stomach Temperature Sensors (STSs). Integrate these data collected in years and regions of different winter ice extent and conditions. Assess diet during the winter months using stable isotope and fatty acid signature analysis. Combine the biological and physical information to refine current models of predator performance based on annual climatic features. These models will be used to examine a range of climate-change scenarios, initially for elephant seals but with a view to broadening the species application at a later stage. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: Due to logistic constraints, no satellite telemetry was conducted at Casey or Macquarie Island this year, but preliminary surveys of the region were conducted for both elephant and Weddell

This study was carried out by Giulia Roncon as part of her PhD at IMAS. The study employed both archival and contemporary diving data, collected by six species of marine predators (three penguins and three seal species) from the Eastern Antarctic sector of the Southern Ocean, to clarify key questions, such as (i) are there differences and/or commonalities regarding the diving physiology and ecology of marine predators, and (ii) what are the main determinants and constrains that characterise the underwater behaviour of air-breathing vertebrates. This dataset is a compilation of data of several different studies carried out by different research teams in various locations and at various times. All TDRs were archival loggers that had to be retrieved to obtain the data. Thus, the animals had to be captured twice (deployment and retrieval). Details about the types of tags are listed in the dataset. Species used in the study were: Adelie Penguins Emperor Penguins King Penguins Fur Seals Southern Elephant Seals Weddell Seals

The dataset contains geographic location estimates of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) tracked via Argos satellite telemetry in the Southern Ocean for the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources project from 1996-10-29 to 2013-02-19. Birds were instrumented with back-mounted Argos satellite transmitters at the Copacabana Colony (62.21S, 58.42W) on King George Island during the austral summer breeding seasons (October - February) from 1996 to 2013. Typical deployments during the breeding season lasted 5 to 8 days, while some winter deployments lasted several months. The data set identifies the sex of the bird tracked (male, female, or unknown) and the age of the bird (adult). The data also identify the breeding stage of the bird during the summer tracking period (incubation, brood/guard, or creche) or is noted as 'winter' if tracked outside the summer breeding season. The data include the date (DD/MM/YYYY) and time (GMT) of the location estimate. Finally, a categorical estimate of uncertainty in the location estimate is provided by Argos quality codes (3,2,1,0,A,B).

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 1251 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project ---- The aim of this study is to develop spatial GIS models of fur seal foraging density over the Kerguelen Plateau that will enable a rapid assessment method for identifying areas of high conservation value for Marine Protected Area planning and management. These models will be based on data on fur seal foraging densities in the HIMI region, and oceanographic data on bathymetry, sea-surface temperature and ocean colour (primary productivity). From the abstract of the referenced paper: We investigated the spatial and temporal distribution of foraging effort by lactating Antarctic fur seals Arctocephalus gazella at Heard Island using satellite telemetry and time-depth recorders. Two principal diving types were identified: 'deep' dives averaging 48.6 m, and 'shallow' dives averaging 8.6 m. Discriminant function analyses were used to assign dives based on their depth and duration. Generalised linear mixed-effects models of night dives (greater than 80% of all dives) indicated both spatial and temporal effects on the distribution of deep and shallow dives. Deep dives were more common in the deeper shelf waters of the Kerguelen Plateau, and these dives predominantly occurred after sunset and before sunrise. In contrast, shallow dives were more common in slope waters on the southeastern margin of the Kerguelen Plateau in the hours either side of local midnight. We suggest that these 2 distinct diving types reflect the targeting of channichthyid (deep dives) and myctophid (shallow dives ) fish, and are indicative of spatial and temporal differences in the availability of these 2 important prey groups. We also identified 3 distinct behavioural dive groups (based on multidimensional scaling of 19 diving and foraging trip parameters) that also differed in their spatial distribution and in their relative importance of deep and shallow dives. The present study provides some of the first evidence that diving strategies are not only influenced by where foraging takes place, but also when. The fields in the campaign_41_tracks.csv file are: campaign_id (the campaign identifier: aadc_campaign_41) animal_id (the identifier of the individual animal) scientific_name (scientific name: Arctocephalus gazella) ptt_id (the identifier of the PTT device on the animal. Note that individual PTT devices were deployed multiple times on different animals) deployment_location (the location of deployment: Spit Bay, Heard Island)) deployment_longitude (longitude of deployment location) deployment_latitude (latitude of deployment location) observation_date (the date of observation, in ISO8601 format yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SSZ. This information is also separated into the year, month, day, etc components) observation_date_year (the year of the observation date) observation_date_month (the month of the observation date) observation_date_day (the day of the observation date) observation_date_hour (the hour of the observation date) observation_date_minute (the minute of the observation date) observation_date_second (the second of the observation date) observation_date_time_zone (the time zone of the observation date) latitude (the latitude of the observed position, in decimal degrees) longitude (the longitude of the observed position, in decimal degrees) location_class (the Argos location class of the observed position: one of (in increasing order of accuracy) B,A,0,1,2,3) trip (the trip number of the animal) at_sea (whether the observed position occurred at sea) complete (whether the complete trip was recorded) The fields in the campaign_41_supplementary.csv file are: animal_id (the identifier of the individual animal) behavioural_dive_group (1 = deep; 2 = shallow-active; 3 = shallow) departure_date (date of departure of the animal on the trip) departure_mass (mass of the animal on departure, in kg) standard_length (standard length of the