Microscopy imaging of live Antarctic krill using a Leica M205C dissecting stereo-microscope with a Leica DFC 450 camera and Leica LAS V4.0 software. Krill were held in a custom made 'krill trap', details provided in manuscript in section eight of this form. The data are available as a single video file. These data are part of Australian Antarctic Science (AAS) projects 4037 and 4050. Project 4037 - Experimental krill biology: Response of krill to environmental change The experimental krill research project is designed to focus on obtaining life history information of use in managing the krill fishery - the largest Antarctic fishery. In particular, the project will concentrate on studies into impacts of climate change on key aspects of krill biology and ecology. Project 4050 - Assessing change in krill distribution and abundance in Eastern Antarctica Antarctic krill is the key species of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Its fishery is rapidly expanding and it is vulnerable to changes in climate. Australia has over a decade of krill abundance and distribution data collected off Eastern Antarctica. This project will analyse these datasets and investigate if krill abundance and distribution has altered over time. The results are important for the future management of the fishery, as well as understanding broader ecological consequences of change in this important species.

This dataset was collected as part of an honours project by Jessica Wilks at Macquarie University (submitted May 2012). The samples analysed were taken from an expedition conducted by Dr Leanne Armand in 2011 as part of the KEOPS2 mission (KErguelen: compared study of the Ocean and the Plateau in Surface water). During this mission 7 locations (A3-1, A3-2, E1-3, E14W2, NPF-L, R2 and TEW) around the Kerguelen Plateau were sampled for seafloor sediment. This study involved identification of over 50 species of diatoms as part of a species assemblage/ distribution study. A photograph of each diatom encountered in this study is included in the attached plates.

Krill, salps and pteropods were collected with an RMT8 net during the K-Axis cruise. Specimens were removed from the samples, measured and frozen at -20C until ready for analysis in Hobart. Individuals of known species were dried at -60C, ground to a fine powder, encapsulated into tin cups and analysed with an ICP-MS in the Central Science Laboratories, University of Tasmania. Samples were analysed for delta15N and delta13C. The salp was the common Southern Ocean species Salpa thompsoni and the krill were Euphausia superba, E. triacantha, E. frigida and Thysanoessa macrura. A small number (2) of the siphonphore Diphyes antarctica were also analysed. Pteropods analysed included both shelled (thecosomes) and naked (gymnosomes) pteropods. Columns E-O in the Pteropods worksheet in the spreadsheet are expressed as ratios.

A list of taxa and observations of phytoplankton collected from the SAZ Sense voyage of the Aurora Australis - voyage 3 of the 2006-2007 season. These data are available via the biodiversity database. The collection contains 26 taxa and 562 observations. More information about SAZ SENSE: The overall objective is to characterise Southern Ocean marine ecosystems, their influence on carbon dioxide exchange with the atmosphere and the deep ocean, and their sensitivity to past and future global change including climate warming, ocean stratification, and ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In particular we plan to take advantage of naturally-occurring, persistent, zonal variations in Southern Ocean primary production and biomass in the Australian Sector to investigate the effects of iron addition from natural sources, and CO2 addition from anthropogenic sources, on Southern Ocean plankton communities of differing initial structure and composition. SAZ-SENSE is a study of the sensitivity of Sub-Antarctic Zone waters to global change. A 32-day oceanographic voyage onboard Australia's ice-breaker Aurora Australis was undertaken in mid-summer (Jan 17 - Feb. 20) 2007 to examine microbial ecosystem structure and biogeochemical processes in SAZ waters west and east of Tasmania, and also in the Polar Frontal Zone south of the SAZ. The voyage brought together research teams from Australasia, Europe, and North America, and was led by the ACE CRC, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, and the Australian Antarctic Division. The overall goal is to understand the controls on Sub-Antarctic Zone productivity and carbon cycling, and to assess their sensitivity to climate change. The strategy is to compare low productivity waters west of Tasmania (areas with little phytoplankton) with higher productivity waters to the east, with a focus on the role of iron as a limiting micro-nutrient. The study also seeks to examine the effect of rising CO2 levels on phytoplankton - both via regional intercomparisons and incubation experiments.

Locations of sampling sites for ASAC project 40/1343 on voyage 3 of the Aurora Australis in the 2001/2002 season. The dataset also contains information on chlorophyll, carotenoids, coccolithophorids and species indentification and counts. The data can be accessed via the Biodiversity Database at the provided URL. From the abstract of the referenced publication: Variations of phytoplankton assemblages were studied in November-December 2001, in surface waters of the Southern Ocean along a transect between the Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ) and the Seasonal Ice Zone (SIZ; 46.9-64.9 degrees S; 142-143 degrees E; CLIVAR-SR3 cruise). Two regions had characteristic but different phytoplankton assemblages. Nanoflagellates (less than 20 microns) and pico-plankton (~2 microns) occurred in similar concentrations along the transect, but were dominant in the SAZ, Sub-Antarctic Front (SAF), Polar Front Zone (PFZ) and the Inter-Polar Front Zone (IPFZ), (46.9-56.9 degrees S). Along the entire transect their average cell numbers in the upper 70 m of water column, varied from 300,000 to 1,100,000 cells per litre. Larger cells (greater than 20 microns), diatoms and dinoflagellates, were more abundant in the Antarctic Zone-South (AZ-S) and the SIZ (60.9-64.9 degrees S). In AZ-S and SIZ diatoms ranged between 270,000 and 1,200,000 cells per litre, dinoflagellates from 31,000 to 102,000 cells per litre. A diatom bloom was in progress in the AZ-S showing a peak of 1,800,000 cells per litre. Diatoms were dominated by Pseudo-nitzschia spp., Fragilariopsis spp., and Chaetoceros spp. Pseudo-nitzschia spp. outnumbered other diatoms in the AZ-S. Fragilariopsis spp. were most numerous in the SIZ. Dinoflagellates contained autotrophs (eg Prorocentrum) and heterotrophs (Gyrodinium/Gymnodinium, Protoperidinium). Diatoms and dinoflagellates contributed most to the cellular carbon: 11-25 and 17-124 micrograms of carbon per litre, respectively. Small cells dominated in the northern region characterised by the lowest N-uptake and new production of the transect. Larger diatom cells were prevalent in the southern area with higher values of N-uptake and new production. Diatom and nanoflagellate cellular carbon contents were highly correlated with one another, with primary production, and productivity related parameters. They contributed up to 75% to the total autotrophic C biomass. Diatom carbon content was significantly correlated to nitrate uptake and particle export, but not to ammonium uptake, while flagellate carbon was well correlated to ammonium uptake, but not to export. Diatoms have contributed highly to particle export along the latitudinal transect, while flagellates played a minor role in the export. This work was completed as part of ASAC projects 40 and 1343. See also the related metadata record, "Spring Phytoplankton Assemblages in the Southern Ocean Between Australia and Antarctica".

We checked each site by taking ice cores and observing the algae biomass to determine the likelihood of krill living under the sea ice in each location. We also used a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) with cameras attached to observe the abundance of krill under the sea ice. If krill were present we used on the sea ice floe a zooplankton pump, called MASMA, according to Meyer et al. 2009, whereas at the edge of the floe column a custom-built fish pump system was used to collect krill near the surface. The Aqualife Biostream BP40 fish pump was capable of pumping up to 1300 litres per minute without harming animals that pass through the pump. For much of the voyage it was operated from the ctd room and at this increased suction head it ran at about 500 litres per minute. Krill were caught at ice stations 2, 6, 7 and 8. The Krill Sample-Overview.xls file contains information regarding how many krill were caught at each ice stations, who was involved and related information. The SIPEX II Krill Voyage Report.docx contains information about the various issues that were encountered during the voyage. It also contains information from the Bottom Krill experiment, which has its own dataset and metadata record. It is duplicated in both datasets. The larvae were used for a growth experiment using the IGR method and after length measurements frozen for carbon, nitrogen, lipids, stomach and gut content analysis. The total and carapace length were determined of juveniles as well as their digestive gland size. Animals were than dissected and tissues frozen at -80C for further analysis (see above). These condition parameters will be discussed in relation to physical and biological environmental parameters of the ice floe (e.g. sea ice thickness, snow coverage, under ice topography and biomass). When this data is analysed, the dataset will be updated to include analysed versions of the data listed in the Krill Sample-Overview.xls file. Also included in the dataset are technical documents and manuals pertaining to the fish pump that was used. Meyer B et al. 2009. Limnol Oceanogr 54:1595-1614

The intention of the Deep Krill Camera and Trap System was to monitor and capture krill found during deep CTD operations. Two traps were installed on the CTD in place of Niskin Bottles. At pre-determined depths an internal light was illuminated and the traps were opened. After a set period of time a second trigger signal was sent to the traps, closing the entry point, encapsulating any Krill that were inside. The Krill Camera system was installed onto the CTD rosette. It consisted of a high-definition video camera (a GoPro Hero 2) within a pressure housing, flanked by two LED light sources. The power for this system was supplied via a rechargeable battery pack also mounted to the CTD. The camera system was remotely controlled from the surface via the CTD communications link. At specific depths the lights and camera were activated, recording the water column and ocean floor by adjusting focus length for fixed durations in an attempt to document Krill at lower depths. An additional camera was introduced into the system, mounted to allow video capture of the Krill Trap Operation. This camera was set to record at the beginning of the operations and left running for the duration of the deployment. Video data from the Krill camera is in MTS format, which can be opened with VLC Media Player. Trap footage is recorded in MP4 format, which can be opened with Quicktime or VLC Media Player. Trap triggering and camera operation data was recorded manually by Rob King.

This dataset contains vertical profiles of particles in the upper water column (60 m depth) at six sites. A laser optical plankton counter (LOPC) was deployed through a hole in the sea ice, or from the stern of the Aurora Australis, and lowered to 60 m, logging as it was lowered. The LOPC records particles in the size range 100 um to 20 mm, though the small aperture (7 cm x 7 cm) means that the largest particles are probably only sampled rarely. For each site, the data are presented as normalised biomass for a series of equivalent spherical diameters (ESD). ESD is based on measurements of length and width of animals likely to be sampled via the LOPC (i.e. animals that are sampled at the same time with a traditional plankton net). The data were collected on the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, from 14/9/2012 to 16/11/2012. Sites were all located in first year pack ice; the ship would nudge up to a floe and then samples of ice, zooplankton, etc. were collected directly by working on the floe. The LOPC was either deployed through a large hole in the pack ice, or it was deployed off the stern of the AA. Method of deployment did not really have an impact on the data collected, it was more a logistical decision based on conditions.

Bio-optical measurements (radiometry, spectral backscatter, attenuation, absorption) for particle and phytoplankton characterisation acquired during Australian Marine National Facility RV Investigator voyage IN2016_V01. The biooptical package consisted of SeaBird 19plus CTD, Satlantic HyperOCR upwelling radiance and downwelling irradiance sensors, WetLabs ac-9, HobiLabs Hydroscat-6. At selected stations the bio-optical package was lowered to the depth of 240 m (or 20 m above the sea bottom if the depth was lower than 260 m) at 20 m/minute. The radiometric measurements were taken only during the day. Parameters measured: SeaBird CTD (4 Hz frequency): - Temperature - Salinity - Pressure - PAR - Fluorescence - Oxygen Satlantic HyperOCR: - Upwelling radiance (Lu) - spectral - Downwelling irradiance (Ed) – spectral - Pressure HobiLabs Hydroscat: - Backscattering coefficient at 6 wavelengths (442, 488, 550, 589, 676, 850 nm) - Fluorescence (550, 676 nm) - Pressure WetLabs ac-9 (2 Hz frequency) - Light absorption coefficient at 9 wavelengths (412, 440, 488, 510, 532, 555, 650, 676, 715 nm) - Light attenuation coefficient at 9 wavelengths (412, 440, 488, 510, 532, 555, 650, 676, 715 nm) At some stations transmissometer data at 650 nm using the Wetlabs c-Star were collected. Data type product(s) created: raw and calibrated data files were created on board, processed and quality controlled files (.dat and/or .csv) will be available by the end of 2016. Owner of instrument: CSIRO Units: CTD data: units given in the header Hydroscat data: bbp_HEOBI_all: all bbp in m^-1, slope unitless Calibrated: depth in m, all bb in m^-1,all betabb sr^-1 m^-1 Radiometers: all Ed uW/cm^2/nm All Lu uW/cm^2/nm/sr Depth is always given in meters. See the metadata file in the download for more information.

Field-based sampling: As part of Australian Antarctic Science project # 4298, a total number of 44 sea ice sites were sampled for bio-optical measurements along 4 transects on land-fast sea ice off Davis Station (Antarctica) during November – December 2015. Measurements included simultaneous hyperspectral down-welling (ice surface) irradiance (triplicate) and under-ice radiance (triplicate) measurements (320 – 900 nm, 3.3 nm resolution) with a TriOS ACC and Trios ARC radiometer, respectively. The radiance measurements were conducted with the TriOS ARC radiometer mounted onto an L-shaped arm (for deployment details see Melbourne-Thomas et al. 2015). Subsequently, snow thickness was measured with a ruler and an ice core was collected directly above the radiometer location. Sea-ice freeboard (tape measure) and ice thickness (ice core length) were also recorded. Ice cores (9 cm internal diameter) were cut into sections, and these were melted in the dark at +4 degrees C, filtered onto GFF filters and then used to measure ice algal pigment content (using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and spectral ice algal absorption coefficients (ap, ad, aph) for entire vertical profiles or for the lower-most 0.1 m of ice cores. The location of the sampling grid had its origin (x=0, y=0) at GPS position: -68.568904, 77.945439. Transects (128m – 512 m in length) started at x=60, x=70, x=80 and x=90 m and were sampled at y-positions of 0m, 0.5m, 1m, 2m, 4m, 8m, 16m, 32m, 64m, 128m, (256m, and 512m) on 19/11/2015, 23/11/2015, 29/11/2015 and 02/12/2015, respectively. Analysis of ice algal chlorophyll a concentration: For pigment analysis, 0.25 to 1.0 litres of melted ice core subsamples were passed through 25 mm diameter glass-fiber (Whatman GF/F) filters. The filters were then frozen and stored below −80 degrees C prior to analysis using HPLC. Samples were extracted over 15 to 18 hours in acetone before analysis by HPLC using a modified C8 column and binary gradient system with an elevated column temperature [Van Heukelem and Thomas, 2001]. Pigments were identified by retention time and absorption spectra from a photo-diode array (PDA) detector, and concentrations were determined from commercial and international standards (Sigma; DHI, Denmark). Analysis of particulate (algal and non-algal) absorption: The optical density (OD) spectra of the particulate material on these filters (see section above) were measured over the 350 to 750 nm spectral range in 0.9 nm increments, using a Cintra 404 UV/VIS dual-beam spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere. The pigments on the sample filter were then extracted using the method of Kishino et al. [1985]'s method to determine the OD of the non-algal particles in a second scan. The OD due to ice algae was then obtained by calculating the difference between the optical density of the total particulate and non-algal fractions. The OD measurements were converted to absorption spectra using blank filter measurements, and by first normalizing the scans to zero at 750 nm and then correcting for the path length amplification using the coefficients of Mitchell [1990]. A detailed description of the method is given in Clementson et al. [2001], and followed SeaWiFS protocols [Muller et al., 2003]. An exponential function was fitted to all spectra of non-algal particulate material: ad(λ) = ad(350 nm) exp[−S(λ − 350 nm)] + b, (1) where ad(λ) is the residual absorption coefficient over the wavelength (λ) range 350 to 750 nm of the particles after methanol extraction, also referred to as absorption of detritus [m−1] although this may include absorption of non-extractable pigments and heterotrophic protists. A non-linear least-squares technique was used to fit Equation 1 to the untransformed data, where S and b are empirically-determined constants. The inclusion of an offset b allows for any baseline correction. In some samples, pigment extraction was incomplete, leaving small residual peaks in