This dataset comprises data on the distribution and abundance of seabirds in the Southern Indian Ocean. A database of seal, whale and bird observations made from ships since the 1978/1979 austral summer shipping season. Observations are typically made from the bridge out one side of the ship. Data held in this database greater than two years old are publicly available. This work forms part of ASAC project 1219 (ASAC_1219). Initial datasets were from the BIOMASS cruises (ADBEX1,ADBEX2,ADBEX3, SIBEX, FIBEX). This work was completed as part of ASAC project 2208 (ASAC 2208). This project also incorporates several other ASAC projects. These are: ASAC_533 - The Distribution and Abundance of Seabirds at Sea in Prydz Bay in Relation to Physical and Biological Parameters ASAC_657 - Prey Consumption by Seabirds around Heard Island in Relation to Physical and Biological Oceanographic Parameters ASAC_725 - The role of the marginal ice zone in the consumption of marine resources by Antarctic seabirds in the Southern Indian Ocean ASAC_1219 - Monitoring for long-term or cumulative impacts in Southern Ocean seabirds Data from these projects were fed directly into project 2208. The fields in the csv file are: wov_data_id (the internal identifier of the record) 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 observation, in decimal degrees) longitude (the longitude of the observation, in decimal degrees) ship_speed (knots) ship_course (degrees) seastate (scale of wave conditions, from "calm-glassy" to "phenomenal (over 14 m)") sea_temperature (sea surface temperature from the ship's instrumentation, in degrees C) seaice (tenths of sea ice cover) visibility (the limit of effective visibility, from "less than 300 m" to "Unrestricted visibility") salinity (sea surface salinity from the ship's instrumentation, in practical salinity units PSU) depth (water depth in metres) cloud_cover (oktas) precipitation (description of precipitation conditions, from "No precipitation/ clear" to "Thunderstorms") windforce (scale of wind conditions with speed range in knots, from "Calm (0-0.9)" to "Hurricane (109-112)") wind_direction (the direction the wind is blowing from, in degrees [north=0, east=90]) air_temperature (degrees C) air_pressure (hectopascals) ship_activity (short description of the ship activity at the time of the observation) species_type (Bird, Seal, Whale) taxon_id (internal identification code for the species observed) bird_age (juvenile, subadult, or adult) distance (distance of observed animal from the ship: "Near (0-300m)", "Middle 300-1000 m", or "Far + 1000 m" ) species_count (the number of individuals observed in total) feeding_count (the number of individuals observed that were feeding) sitting_on_water_count (the number of individuals observed that were sitting on water) sitting_on_ice_count (the number of individuals observed that were sitting on ice) sitting_on_ship_count (the number of individuals observed that were sitting on the ship) in_hand_count (the number of individuals observed that were held in the hand) flying_past_count (the number of individuals observed that were flying past) accompanying_count (the number of individuals observed that were accompanying the vessel) following_wake_count (the number of individuals observed that were following the wake of the vessel) bird_direction (direction of travel of observed individuals, in degrees [northwards travel=0, eastwards

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

This data set is a compilation of modeled seabird prevalence predictions for a selection of species including Razorbill (Alca torda), Greater Shearwater (Puffinus gravis), Wilson’s Storm-petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus), and all auks (Alcidae), and relative abundance of cetaceans including humpback whale (megaptera novaeangliae), right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis), and fin whale (Balaenoptera musculus). These data were generated to improve the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary management plan review and coastal zone management decisions in the Gulf of Maine and surrounding area. These geospatial data sets are part of a large compilation of data provided in the referenced NCCOS (2006) technical memorandum.

Seabird surveys in January - March 2006 of a poorly known area of the Southern Ocean adjacent to the East Antarctic coast identified six seabird communities, several of which were comparable to seabird communities identified both in adjacent sectors of the Antarctic, and elsewhere in the Southern Ocean. These results support previous proposals that the Southern Ocean seabird community is characterised by an ice-associated assemblage and an open-water assemblage, with the species composition of the assemblages reflecting local (Antarctic-resident) breeding species, and the migratory routes and feeding areas of distant-breeding taxa, respectively. Physical environmental covariates such as sea-ice cover, distance to continental shelf and time of year influenced the distribution and abundance of seabirds observed, but the roles of these factors in the observed spatial and temporal patterns in seabird assemblages was confounded by the duration of the survey. Occurrence of a number of seabird taxa exhibited significant correlations with krill densities at one or two spatial scales, but only three taxa (Arctic tern, snow petrel and dark shearwaters, i.e. sooty and short-tailed shearwaters) showed significant correlations at a range of spatial scales. Dark shearwater abundances showed correlations with krill densities across the range of spatial scales examined. This work was conducted on the BROKE-West voyage of the Aurora Australis.

Distribution and abundance of breeding seabirds in the AAT. This dataset comprises a broad range of component datasets derived from ground surveys aerial photography and oblique photography. Aerial and oblique photography has been used to obtain supplementary information on distribution and abundance of seabirds in the region. Recent surveys, 2000/01 onwards, have made use of GPS for more precise geographic information on seabird nests and colonies. At present there are a number of child metadata records attached to this record. See the link above for details.

A comparative study of the timing of breeding, breeding participation and reproductive success over a 20-year period of four tropical pelagic seabird species in relation to the regional oceanographic conditions affecting the Leeuwin Current was conducted. Three tern species, the Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris, Brown Noddy A. stolidus and Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscata (formerly Sterna fuscata), and the Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica (formerly Puffinus pacificus) comprised our study species at the Houtman Abrolhos, eastern Indian Ocean, between 1991 and the current day. The diet of these species was also investigated between 1991 and 2000.

A comparative study of the timing of breeding, breeding participation and reproductive success over a 20-year period of four tropical pelagic seabird species in relation to the regional oceanographic conditions affecting the Leeuwin Current was conducted. Three tern species, the Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris, Brown Noddy A. stolidus and Sooty Tern Onychoprion fuscata (formerly Sterna fuscata), and the Wedge-tailed Shearwater Ardenna pacifica (formerly Puffinus pacificus) comprised our study species at the Houtman Abrolhos, eastern Indian Ocean, between 1991 and the current day. The diet of these species was also investigated between 1991 and 2000.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 1306 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project ---- The locations and characteristics of nest sites in the Larsemann Hills of three lesser-known seabird species will be mapped. Rapid survey techniques will be trialled and the diets and chronology of breeding determined. The influence of human activities on Broknes on skuas and other seabirds will be examined. Location of seabird colonies recorded using a Garmin 12XL GPS unit (averaged). Nest reference numbers refer to ANARE Research Notes 35, Breeding distribution and abundance of surface-nesting petrels in the Rauer Islands, East Antarctica by K. Green and G.W.Johnstone. The download file contains a number of photographs and a word document providing further information. Also see the metadata records: "Windmill Islands 1:10000 Some abandoned penguin rookery sites point GIS Dataset" and "Windmill Islands 1:10000 Some abandoned penguin rookery sites polygon GIS Dataset".