This dataset contains the results from surveys of Royal Penguins (Eudyptes schegeli) on Macquarie Island. The surveys were conducted between May 1984 and January 1985. The total number of Royal penguins breeding on Macquarie Island is estimated at 848,719 pairs (+/-10.5%). The sizes and locations of all 57 colonies are given. The results are listed in the documentation. All Royal penguins breeding at Macquarie Island were allocated to one of 57 colonies identified by locations and varying in size from 75 breeding pairs to over 160,000 breeding pairs. The mean number of nests in the Lower Sandy Bay plots was 2.43/m2 (range at 95% confidence limits 2.32-2.54). The occupied area given for Hurd Point colony has been reduced by 5% from that surveyed to allow for two areas included in the survey which were subsequently found not to be used by breeding birds in the 1984-85 season. The variation in the difference between the lower and upper estimates of individual colonies given in Table 2 ranges from 17% to 50%. This was mainly due to the extreme variability of the terrain and/or the degree of association with Rockhopper penguins. The number of breeding pairs calculated for the colonies surveyed through the winter was 487,932 (range 465,838 - 510,014). The total estimated for the unsurveyed colonies was 360,787 (range 294,100 - 427,475) breeding pairs. The total estimated number of breeding pairs of Royal penguins on Macquarie Island is 848,719 +/- 10.5% (range 759,938 - 937,489). The dataset includes two text files (csv format) detailing the number of breeding pairs at each colony, and an sketch map of Macquarie Island detailing the locations of the colonies. The fields in this dataset are: Colony Area Range Breeding Pairs

Petrels Bibliography compiled by John Warham contains 12,831 records. The fields in this dataset are: Bibliography index Subset Date of Publication Author/s Title Source Area Keywords Abstract

Adelie penguin census November - December 1999 by Jim and Yvonne Claypole following their winter at Cape Denison. A shapefile with the colony boundaries is available but counts are not available. On 2 March 2016 David Smith of the Australian Antarctic Data Centre contacted Jim Claypole to see if he and Yvonne still had a copy of the counts as the Australian Antarctic Data Centre does not have a copy of the counts. Jim and Yvonne recall emailing the results of their survey to the Australian Antarctic Division soon after returning to Australia after wintering at Cape Denison in 1999. On 11 April 2016 Jim Claypole advised David that unfortunately they had not been able to find any record of their survey and they didn't have emails from that time.

Penguin counts conducted between 25 November and 2 December 1997. The census covered the following areas and rookeries in the Cape Dension area: rookeries north of Gadget Hut, outside Greenholm Hut and both sides of harbour, Penguin Knob, Azimuth Hill, Memorial Hill, Lands End Ridge, below Sorensen's Hut, east of Sorensen's Hut. A total of 24542 penguins were censused for the Cape Denison area, excluding McKellar Island Rookeries. The fields in this dataset are: Area Rookery locations Number

The relationship between colony area and population density of Adelie Penguins Pygoscelis adeliae was examined to determine whether colony area, measured from aerial or satellite imagery, could be used to estimate population density, and hence detect changes in populations over time. Using maps drawn from vertical aerial photographs of Adelie Penguin colonies in the Mawson region, pair density ranged between 0.1 and 3.1 pairs/m2, with a mean of 0.63 - 0.3 pairs/m2. Colony area explained 96.4% of the variance in colony populations (range 90.4 - 99.6%) for 979 colonies at Mawson. Mean densities were not significantly different among the 19 islands in the region, but significant differences in mean pair density were observed among colonies in Mawson, Whitney Point (Casey, East Antarctica) and Cape Crozier (Ross Sea) populations. This work was completed as part of ASAC project 1219 (ASAC_1219). The fields in this dataset are: Island Latitude Longitude Date Colony area Breeding Pairs Breeding Pairs per square metre Area per nest Number of nests Number of adults

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2337 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project ---- The experimental krill research program is focused on obtaining life history information of use in managing the krill fishery - the largest Antarctic fishery. In particular, the program will concentrate on studies into schooling, growth and ageing of krill. From the abstracts of some of the referenced papers: Nucleic acid contents of tissue were determined from field-caught Antarctic krill to determine whether they could be used as an alternative estimator of individual growth rates which can currently only be obtained by labour intensive on-board incubations. Krill from contrasting growth regimes from early and late summer exhibited differences in RNA-based indices. There was a significant correlation between the independently measured individual growth rates and the RNA-based indices. There was a significant correlation between the independently measured individual growth rates and the RNA:DNA ratio and also the RNA concentration of krill tissue, although the strength of the relationship was only modest. DNA concentration, on average, was relatively constant, irrespective of the growth rates. The moult stage did not appear to have a significant effect on the nucleic acid contents of tissue. Overall, the amount of both nucleic acids varied considerably between individuals. Nucleic acid-based indicators may provide information concerning the recent growth and nutritional status of krill and further experimentation under controlled conditions is warranted. The are, however, reasonably costly and time-consuming measurements. Growth rates of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean were measured in 4 summers. Growth rate was measured using an 'instantaneous growth rate' technique which involved measuring the mean change in length if the uropods at moulting. In the first 4 days following collection mean growth rates ranged from 0.35 to 7.34% per moult in adults and 2.42 to 9.05% in juveniles. Mean growth rates of adult and juvenile krill differed between areas and between the different years of the investigation. When food was restricted under experimental conditions, individual krill began to shrink immediately and mean population growth rates decreased gradually, becoming negative after as little as 7 days. Populations of krill which exhibited initial growth rates began to shrink later than those which had initially been growing more slowly. Data were collected on growth rates of krill. These data were collected as part of ASAC projects 34, 1074, 2220 and 2337. ASAC_34 - Ecophysiology of Antarctic Krill 'Euphausia superba' ASAC_1074 - Seasonal growth in krill ASAC_2220 - Collection of live Antarctic krill ASAC_2337 - Experimental studies into growth and ageing of krill The fields in this dataset are: Field season (eg FS9596 = Field Season 1995-1996) Area (eg Indian Ocean) Cruise Month Date Latitude Longitude Total Number of Krill Dead Krill Moulted Krill Experiment ID Station ID Sample ID Sex Growth (IGR%) (% growth at time of moulting) Uropod Size (mm) Days after capture (when moulted) Standard length

1.The lakes and ponds in the Larsemann Hills and Bolingen Islands (East-Antarctica) are characterised by cyanobacteria-dominated, benthic microbial mat communities. A 56-lake dataset representing the limnological diversity among the more than 150 lakes and ponds in the region was developed to identify the nature and quantify the effects of the abiotic conditions structuring the cyanobacterial and diatom communities. 2.Limnological diversity in the lakes of the Larsemann Hills and Bolingen Islands is primarily determined by salinity and salinity related variables (concentrations of major ions, conductivity and alkalinity), and variation in lake morphometry (depth, catchment and lake area). Low pigment, phosphate and nitrogen concentrations, and DOC and TOC levels in the water column of most lakes underscore the ecological success of benthic microbial mats in this region. 3.Benthic communities consisted of prostrate, sometimes finely laminated mats, flake mats, epilithic and interstitial microbial mats. Mat physiognomy and chlorophyll/carotenoid ratios were strongly related to lake depth, but not to salinity. 4.Morphological-taxonomic analyses revealed the presence of 27 diatom morphospecies and 34 cyanobacterial morphotypes. Mats of shallow lakes (interstitial and flake mats) and those of deeper lakes (prostrate mats) were characterized by different dominant cyanobacterial morphotypes. No relationship was found between the distribution of these morphotypes and salinity. In contrast, variation in diatom species composition was strongly related to both lake depth and salinity. Shallow ponds are mainly characterised by aerial diatoms (e.g. Diadesmis cf. perpusilla and Hantzschia spp.). In deep lakes, communities are dominated by Psammothidium abundans and Stauroforma inermis. Lakes with conductivities higher than 1.5 mS/cm become susceptible to freezing out of salts and hence pronounced salinity fluctuations. In these lakes Psammothidium abundans and Stauroforma inermis are replaced by Amphora veneta. Stomatocysts were only important in shallow freshwater lakes. 5.Ice cover influences microbial mat structure and composition both directly by physical disturbance in shallow lakes and by influencing light availability in deeper lakes, as well as indirectly by generating salinity increases and promoting the development of seasonal anoxia. 6.The relationship between diatom species composition and salinity and depth is statistically significant. Transfer functions based on these data can therefore be used in paleolimnological reconstruction to infer changes in the precipitation-evaporation balance in continental Antarctic lakes. These data were also collected under the auspices of the Micromat Project, Biodiversity of Microbial mats in Antarctica (see the URL below). The fields in this dataset are: Lake Lake number Location Latitude Longitude Altitude (m) Area (ha) Catchment (ha) Depth (m) Distance from Plateau Distance from Sea Geology Substrate Presence Absence pH Alkalinity Nitrate Nitrite Ammonium Silicate Phosphate Oxygen Salinity Turbidity Conductivity Sodium Potassium Calcium Magnesium Chlorine Sulphur Bicarbonate Hydrocarbonate Total Organic Carbon Dissolved Organic Carbon

Twenty three juvenile (8-14 months of age) southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina L.) from Macquarie Island were tracked during 1993 and 1995. Migratory tracks and ocean areas with concentrated activity, presumed to be foraging grounds, were established from location data gathered by attached geolocation time depth recorders. The seals ranged widely (811-3258 km) and foraging activity centred on oceanographic frontal systems, especially the Antarctic Polar Front and bathymetric features such as the Campbell Plateau region. The seals spent 58.6% of their sea time within managed fishery areas while the remainder was spent on the high seas, an area of unregulated fishing. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) areas 58.4.1, 88.2 and especially 88.1 were important and distant foraging areas for these juvenile elephant seals. From fisheries records, diet and the foraging ecology studies of the seals there appears to be little, if any, overlap or conflict between the seals and commercial fishing operations within the regulated commercial areas. However, attention is drawn to the possibility of future interactions if Southern Ocean fisheries expand or new ones commence. Furthermore... The dive duration of 16 underyearling (6-12 months old) southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina during their second trip to sea was investigated using geolocating time depth recorders. Underyearling seals had a lesser diving ability, with respect to duration and depth, than adult southern elephant seals. Individual underyearlings dived for average durations of up to 20.3 minutes and depths up to 416m compared to durations and depths of 36.9 minutes and 589m, respectively for adults. Dive duration was positively related to their body mass at departure, indicating that smaller seals were limited to shorter dive durations, perhaps as a result of their lesser aerobic capacity. All seals often exceeded their theoretical aerobic dive limit (average of 22.1 plus/minus 18.1%). The number of dives exceeding the theoretical aerobic dive limit was not related to mass, suggesting that factors other than mass, such as foraging location or prey availability, may have been responsible for the differences in diving effort. Foraging ability, indicated by the ability of the seals to follow vertically moving prey, was positively related to seal mass, indicating that small mass restricted foraging ability. The shorter dive durations of the smaller seals inferred that they had shallower dive depths in which to search for prey, thus restricting foraging ability. Although foraging ability was restricted by size, foraging success was found to be inversely related to mass, the smaller seals gaining a higher proportion of blubber than larger seals during their foraging trips. Thus, despite smaller seals being restricted to shallower depths and shorter durations, their foraging success was not affected. The fields in this dataset are: Area Perimeter ID Latitude Longitude Time Percent CCAMLR EEZ Season Seal Sex Age (months) Days at Sea Range (km) Bearing (degrees) Sea Surface Temperatures (degrees C) Foraging Areas Departure Mass (kg) At sea mass gain (kg) Rate of mass gain (kg) Survival estimates Length (m) Girth (m) Dives Divers per hour Total Time Diving % trip diving Dive Duration Surface Time Theoretical Aerobic Dive Limit Drift