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 travel=90])

observation_code (the type of observation activity being conducted, e.g. "Stern count", "Forward Quadrant", or "null observation - no birds seen")

swimming_past_count (the number of individuals observed that were swimming past the vessel)

float_in_water_count (the number of individuals observed that were floating in the water)

porpoising_count (the number of individuals observed that were porpoising)

following_count (the number of individuals observed that were following the vessel)

surfacing_count (the number of individuals observed that were surfacing)

breaching_count (the number of individuals observed that were breaching)

blowing_count (the number of individuals observed that were blowing)

move_thru_ice_count (the number of individuals observed that were moving through ice)

frolicking_count (the number of individuals observed that were frolicking)

voyage_id (the internal identifier of the voyage)

notes (other notes recorded during the observation)

date_created (the date the observation record was created, in ISO8601 format yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SSZ)

date_revised (the date the observation record was last revised, in ISO8601 format yyyy-mm-ddTHH:MM:SSZ)

husky_code (the species code used in the husky data logging system)

identification_status (status of the species identification: "Confirmed" or "Unconfirmed")

wind_speed (wind speed, in knots)

data_notes (notes about the data associated with the observation)

genus (genus name of the observed species)

species (specific epithet of the observed species)

common_name (common name of the observed species)

subspecies (subspecies name of the observed species)

aphia_id (the taxonomic identifier of the observed species, from the Register of Antarctic Marine Species and the World Register of Marine Species, http://www.marinespecies.org/)