With the aim of estimating the proportion of Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) in pack ice over summer, an Australian fixed-wing aerial survey programme, based in east Antarctica, was conducted in the austral summers of 2007/2008, 2008/09 and 2009/10 (See Kelly et al. 2010; SC/62/IA8). The first season (2007/08) comprised of three 'test' flights. As such, there were no real 'survey' data collected during these three flights, but video and digital stills data have been included in the dataset supplied. The surveys (2008/09 and 2009/10) covered two general regions: Vincennes Bay (66 degrees 24'S 110 degrees 18'E) which was surveyed multiple times across both seasons and within the 2009/10 season, and north and east of the Shackleton Ice Shelf and into the eastern section of the Davis Sea, which was surveyed once (2009/10). The primary focus was on Antarctic minke whales, however sightings of other species were also collected (killer whale, Southern right whale, penguins and seals). The survey was conducted in a CASA 212:400 aircraft at an altitude was 228m (750ft) and survey speed was 204 km/hr (110 knots). The survey was conducted as independent double-platform: the front and back observers were isolated visually and audibly. The aircraft was also fitted with a number of digital still, video and infrared cameras. Data Available 1. Sighting data set A .csv file of animal sightings. Two files, one for each survey season, has been supplied. The observers field of view was between 30 degrees and 60 degrees declination (approximately) from the horizon, corresponding to an on the ground area width of 264 metres each side of the aircraft. Protocol was followed as for traditional line transect surveys for marine mammals, with observers searching ahead of the aircraft in a 'D' pattern. The recorded observations consisted of cue counting (where possible) and the angle of declination when the animals were abeam to the observer (using a Suunto inclinometer). Cues were not recorded after the animals had moved past abeam. The angle of declination of groups was measured at the centre of the group. Perpendicular distance out to animals was calculated using angle of declination and flying height (but no correction for curvature of the earth or aircraft drift angle was applied). Other information recorded included species, group size (minimum, maximum and best estimate), cue type, number of animals at surface when perpendicular, direction of travel and any behavioural features of the animal(s). Please note that no formal sighting data was collected for the January 2008 test flights. Effort data set A .csv file of survey effort and environmental conditions. Two files, one for each survey season, has been supplied. The flight leader recorded environmental covariates (ice coverage (to the nearest 10%), glare, Beaufort sea state, and cloud cover, etc) at regular intervals, or when conditions changed. Still images The data includes jpeg files of images. A still camera was mounted vertically in the base of the aircraft to cover the trackline (10 megapixel Nikon D200 with 35mm lens); camera was situated behind a Perspex window. In addition in the final survey year (2009/10) two Nikon D300 cameras (12 megapixel with 50mm lens) were mounted at the side windows obliquely at an angle of 45 degrees (please note side-camera was used only during final season of survey, Dec 2009-Feb 2010). Focus set to infinity, and image settings given to account for high-light, high-contrast environments. GPS/altitude data was embedded in each images EXIF information. Still image coverage underneath the aircraft was uninterrupted along the trackline with a shutter-release of around 1 photograph per second and a swath width of around 157 m. Similarly the oblique mounted cameras had a coverage over 450 m each side of the trackline (i.e., configured to be approximately the same as the human observers). Video cameras A number of streampix video files. Two high

Season whale catch records for austral summers from 1931/32 to 1979/80. Data have been aggregated into one degree cells centered on the reported position. The dataset covers five whale species - Blue, Fin, Sei, Minke and Humpback. These data have been exposed as an OBIS (Ocean Biogeographic Information System) resource via DiGIR (Distributed Generic Information Retrieval (DiGIR)).

During the 2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage Acousticians noted all whale calls and other acoustic events that were detected during real-time monitoring in a Sonobuoy Event Log. A written summary of the event log was recorded during data collection at approximately 15 minute intervals, and this summary comprises the Whale Tracking Log. The acoustician on-duty recorded the average bearings or locations of each calling whale/group every 15 minutes in the written Whale Tracking Log. Entries in the written Sonobuoy Tracking Log (on the bench in the acoustics workstation) also include total number of different whales heard in that 15 minute interval. If multiple whales/groups were detected, then the acoustician on-duty, in consultation with the lead acoustician and/or voyage management designateded one of the whales the 'target' whale, and attempted to encounter this target first. When targeting a whale/group, the acoustician on-duty continued to track all other whales/groups in the area as these tracked whales/groups may become the next target after obtaining concluding with the current target. Date: (UTC) written only at top of datasheet Time: (UTC) on the hour, 15 past, half past, and 15 to. Track: Unique identifier for each whale/group tracked in the past 15 minutes. Each track will have: Location: Either an average bearing from a sonobuoy (eg 220 degrees from SB18) or a Lat/Lon from the most recent triangulation Notes: What is the vessel action with respect to this tracked whale/group? (eg. Is this the current or previous 'target'? Are we presently photographing this whale? Did we finish photographing the whale?) Has the whale gone silent? Has this track crossed paths with another?

This log contains notes and observations of whales and seals at Mawson, collected between 1979 and 1984. Included animals are Minke Whales, Killer Whales, Leopard Seals, Elephant Seals, Crabeater Seals and Fur Seals. Locations include Horseshoe Harbour, Welch Island and Giganteus Island. The hard copy of the log has been archived by the Australian Antarctic Division library.

Voyage track information for the VWHALE voyage of the Australian Antarctic program, February-March, 2013. The data are available as either NMEA files or shapefiles. Voyage objective - Whale acoustics and tagging off the ice edge of the Ross Sea Voyage duration - 30 Jan 2013 to 17 Mar 2013. Ship - Amaltal Explorer See the parent metadata record for more information about the voyage.

This metadata record is a parent for all data on Antarctic blue whales collected during the 2015 New Zealand-Australia Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage. Description of specific data sets can be found in the Voyage Science Plan and within child datasets.

The sonobuoy deployment log is a csv file that contains metadata on the deployment of sonobuoys deployed during the 2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage. The first row contains column headers, while each subsequent row contains deployment information for a single sonobuoy. Data that were recorded during each sonobuoy deployment are: buoyID: Buoy ID number is the sequential number of the buoy starting at 1 for the first buoy of the trip. startDate: Date (UTC) at the start of the sonobuoy deployment (YYYY-MM-DD) startTime: Time (UTC) at the start of the sonobuoy deployment (HH:MM:SS) 2 digit hour with 24 hour clock and leading zero. stopDate: Date (UTC) at the end of the sonobuoy deployment (YYYY-MM-DD). While the recording is in progress this should be 1,2 4 or 8 hours after the startTime based on sonobuoy setting. stopTime: Time (UTC) at the end of the sonobuoy deployment (HH:MM:SS). While the recording is in progress this should be 1,2 4 or 8 hours after the startTime based on the sonobuoy setting. lat: Latitude of deployment in decimal degrees. Southern hemisphere latitudes should be negative. long: Longitude of deployment in decimal degrees. Western hemisphere longitudes should be negative. alt: Depth of the sonobuoy deployment in metres. For DIFAR sonobuoys either 30, 120 or 300. recordingChannel: This is the channel number within the recorded wav-file that contains audio from this buoy as would be reported by Matlab. Channel numbers start at 1 (1-indexed) so usually this will be 1, 2 or 3. magVariation: The magnetic variation in degrees. Positive declination is East, negative is West. At the start of a recording this will be entered from a chart. As the recording progresses, this should be updated by measuring the bearing to the vessel. sonobuoyType: The an/ssq designation for the sonobuoy. Usually 53B, 53D, 53F, HIDAR, 57A/B, or 36Q. receiver: The type and serial number of the calibrated radio receiver (WinRadio) used to receive the VHF signal. (wr15725, wr17274, wr15274, or wr15273) preamp: The (unitless) gain in dB of any preamplifier (including the instrument preamp from the Fireface UFX). Usually 10 or 20 dB. adc: The analog-to-digital converter (adc) used to digitize the audio. This is the sound card name and gain. All data were recorded on an RME Fireface UFX, so Ufx10 would be the RME Fireface UFX with a gain of 10 dB. vhfFreq: The VHF channel number used to receive the sonobuoys. Sonobuoys have 99 pre-set VHF channels between

This metadata record describes cetacean line-transect distance sampling dataset collected during the 2021 TEMPO (Trends in Euphausiids off Mawson, Predators, and Oceanography) voyage onboard the RV Investigator. The primary goal of TEMPO was to collect data to estimate krill biomass with a view to update the precautionary catch limit for krill in CCAMLR’s Division 58.4.2-East. The survey was also designed to improve our understanding on the connectivity of the krill population, and overlap between krill and predators. The survey consisted of six major acoustic line-transects to estimate krill biomass and to observe swarm behaviour across ecological and density gradients within the survey area south of 62°S between 55° and 80° E, and a single fine-scale krill box acoustic survey off the Mawson coast. Comprehensive oceanographic (CTDS, XBTs ARGSO floats) and biological (plankton) sampling were also conducted to understand the habitat environment of krill and its predators. Predator observation was undertaken throughout the voyage to improve our understanding on the connectivity of the krill population, and overlap of distribution between krill and predators. The information gathered contributes to the design of tractable and sustainable long-term monitoring plan and to evaluate spatial management of the krill fishery. A team of four dedicated cetacean observers (with contributions from other experienced staff onboard) undertook formal line transect distance sampling when conditions allowed. Two observers were on effort during line transect effort; they were stationed in protective boxes on the forward Deck 05 of the RV Investigator. A data entry person was situated on the bridge; sighting, effort and weather data were logged using PAMGUARD (Pamguard Development Team 2021). The two observers scanned port and starboard, respectively, from abeam (~90° from the ship’s heading) through to around ~10° beyond the trackline on the other side. (i.e., this is single platform sighting data, sensu Burt et al. 2014). They searched using a combination of naked eye, Fujinon 7 x 50 FMTRC-SX binoculars and Fujinon 25 x 150 MT binoculars. Radial distances were estimated using the reticles of the 7 x 50 binoculars, or were estimated when detections were too close, or if the horizon was not available. Reticle information can be used to estimate radial distance to the observation using the methods outlined in Kinzey et al. (2000) and Kinzey and Gerrodette (2001). On Deck 05, average observer eye-height was ~18.4 m above the water line; the average observer eye-height on the bridge was ~20.7m. The observers maintained line transect search effort during daylight hours, with a sea state ≤ 6, and with reasonable visibility. For shorter periods of poorer visibility (or ship operations which slowed the vessel considerably or altered travel direction) they maintained ‘visual search’ effort on Deck 05, or moved to the bridge to undertake ‘bridge only’ searching during extended periods of poor weather and/or ship operations. A total of 3612 km of line transect distance sampling effort for cetaceans was achieved both within the TEMPO survey area and during the transit periods, in addition to 153 km of informal sighting effort from Deck 05, and another 1115 km of bridge only effort. This combined effort yielding 621 sightings of approximately 1609 animals. The most prevalent species observed was humpback whales, followed by fin whales. Sightings may include non-cetacean species like seabirds and pinnipeds, but as these were not the target taxa for this observation process, consistent recording of sighting for these should not be assumed. References Burt, M. L., Borchers, D. L., Jenkins, K. J., and Marques, T. A. (2014). Using mark-recapture distance sampling methods on line transect surveys. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 5(11), 1180-1191. doi:10.1111/2041-210x.12294 Kinzey D, Olson P, Gerrodette T. 2000. Marine mammal data collection procedures on research

Dataset of marine mammal observations made in the Southern Ocean from late 1998 to early 2000. Further information about the data are included in a word document in the download. The data are held in excel spreadsheets. The word document mentioned above lists the column headings for the excel spreadsheets. The fields in this dataset are: date time species Number of animals Distance Bearing Heading Initial Cue Behaviour Latitude Longitude Effort status Notes Wind speed Wind direction Actual wind speed Actual wind direction Sea State Cloud cover Visibility Boat speed Boat course Speed made good Course made good Temperature Wave Height Weather Depth Swell height More notes

This file contains a log of biological observations made in the Davis region during 1960. It includes information on Elephant Seals, Leopard Seals, Crabeater Seals, Adelie Penguins, Emperor Penguins, Skuas, Silver-Grey Petrels, Antarctic Petrels, Cape Pigeons, Snow Petrels, Wilson's Storm Petrels, Giant Petrels and Whales. This is a scanned copy of the original log. The hard copy of the log has been archived at the National Archives of Australia.