This project empirically measures the effects of human activity on the behaviour of King penguins on Macquarie Island, under ASAC project 1148. This was achieved by collecting behavioural responses of individual penguins exposed to pedestrian approaches across the breeding stages of incubation and guard. Information produced includes minimum approach guidelines. As of April 2003 all data are stored on Hi-8 digital tape, due to be transformed during 2003 - 2004 into a timecoded tab-delimited text format for analysis using the Observer (Noldus Information Technology 2002). The fields in this dataset are: Sample Date Breeding Phase Approach Colony Focal birds tape number Wide angle tape number Weather Time Windspeed Temperature Precipitation Cloud Pre-approach control Post-approach control Maximum approach distance

The number of people travelling to Antarctica is growing, with much of the recent increase in visitor numbers attributable to an expansion in commercial tourism (Enzenbacher 1992; 1994). Most visitors to the region seek direct interactions with the wildlife and so visit breeding groups of seals and seabirds (Stonehouse 1965; Muller-Schwarze 1984). Invariably, this involves travelling to breeding sites by helicopter, inflatable motorised boat (e.g. zodiac) or over-snow vehicle, then making relatively close approaches on foot to photograph and observe the animals. At present, there is information to suggest that visitation can have a negative effect on some Antarctic wildlife, causing changes to behaviour, physiology and breeding success (Culik et al. 1989; Woehler et al. 1994, Giese 1996; Giese 1998, Giese and Riddle 1999). However, the responses of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) to human activity have never been systematically examined. As a result, any guidelines to control human activity around these animals are based either on opportunistic observations of seal response, and/or assumptions as to the level of disturbance seals are experiencing. Therefore, the primary objective of the research is to measure the responses of Weddell seals to various human disturbance stimuli. In so doing, the research aims to make quality information available for the development of a comprehensive and scientifically based set of guidelines for managing interactions between people and Antarctic seals. The research will adopt an experimental approach, whereby seals are experimentally exposed to particular types and intensities of human activity while their responses are objectively quantified. As far as possible, experiments are designed to replicate actual disturbances that Weddell seals are presently exposed to in Antarctica. As such, the responses of cow/pup pairs to approaches by pedestrians, over-snow vehicles and helicopters will be examined. In particular, experiments will investigate how approach distance (or altitude), approach speed, time of day, weather conditions and the time of the breeding season, influence the responses of Weddell Seals to these disturbance stimuli. Disturbance responses will be quantified by measuring the behaviour and heart rate of individual seals and the haul-out behaviour of entire groups of animals. Experiments will also be conducted to quantify the sound generated by vehicle operations in Antarctica to help determine whether anthropogenic noise effects vocal communication among Weddell seal, as indicated by changes in their calling rates. Also see the metadata record entitled: Behavioural responses of Weddell seals to human activity. At this stage most of the analysis is in progress and therefore it is not possible to provide complete data sets. These will be submitted upon the completion of the work. The attached word document summarises the experiments that have been completed during the three field seasons to date (up to the end of the 2002/2003 season), which included, the experiment type, location and sample size. The two excel data sheets 'Experimental recording details' provide information on the video recordings that were made during the 2001/2002 and the 2002/2003 summers. These details state the experimental procedure, the details of the experimental, the time, date etc. They include Hi8 video camera recordings of Weddell seal behaviour and DAT recordings of vocalisations. Biological data collected during the 2002/2003 summer include: Collected 10 sample of blood (up to 50 ml each) Collected 6 samples of urine Collected 11 samples of fur Collected 9 samples of blubber Collected 6 samples of faecal swabs (from the ice or thermometer) Conducted a post mortem on a recently deceased seal and collected organ and tissue samples. These samples are being analysed by investigators in ASAC 1144. When results are available they will documented in either ASAC 1148 or 1144. The fields in this dataset are: Date Time Tape Number Counter Number Camera Number Cow ID New ID Event Respiration Rate Heart Rate Where Approached Position of Pup Distance of Closest Pair Distance of Tide Crack Location Wind Direction Cloud Cover Temperature Wind Speed Conductivity Salinity pH Further data has been added to the archive for up to the end of the 2006. These include data files, plus scanned field notes taken during the project. Finally, video tapes relating to the project have also been stored in the Australian Antarctic Division's multimedia library.

This project empirically measures the effects of human activity on the behaviour and reproductive success of Gentoo penguins on Macquarie Island. This was achieved by 1) collecting behavioural responses of individual penguins exposed to pedestrian approaches across the breeding stages of guard, creche and moult, and 2) collecting reproductive success data (chicks raised to creche age per nesting pair) for gentoo penguins colonies in areas of high and low human activity. Information produced includes minimum approach guidelines. As of April 2003 all data are stored on Hi-8 digital tape, due to be transformed during 2003 - 2004 into a timecoded tab-delimited text format for analysis using the Observer (Noldus Information Technology 2002). This work was carried out as part of ASAC project 1148 (ASAC_1148). The fields in this dataset are: Sample Date Breeding Phase Stimulus Type Colony Focal birds tape number Wide angle tape number Location within colony Weather Time Windspeed Temperature Precipitation Cloud Pre-approach control Approach Post-approach control Maximum approach distance

This project empirically measures the effects of human activity on the behaviour, heart rate and egg-shell surface temperature of Royal penguins on Macquarie Island, as part of ASAC project 1148. This was achieved by collecting behavioural and physiological responses of individual penguins exposed to pedestrian approaches across the breeding stages of incubation, guard, creche and moult. Both single person and group approaches were also investigated. Information produced includes minimum approach guidelines. As of April 2003 all data are stored on Hi-8 digital tape, due to be transformed during 2003 - 2004 into a timecoded tab-delimited text format for analysis using the Observer (Noldus Information Technology 2002). Some notes about some of the fields in this dataset: Temp file refers to whether or not egg shell surface temperature was also recorded for the sample, with the code below refering to the file name. Neighbour refers to the behavioural control file for each sample (neighbouring nests did not recieve an artificial egg, and provide a behavioural control for responses to human approaches without the scientific treatment). Nest refers to the randomly used nest markers for each sample. Heart rate refers to whether heart rate was concurrently recorded with behaviour on the sample (both stored on Hi-8 tape). Stimulus refers to whether single persons or groups of persons (5 -7, recorded within each sample) were used for the human approaches. Environment refers to whether approaches were conducted from colony sections abuting pebbly beach or from poa tussock environs (tussock approaches less than 50 m of the poa / pebbly beach junction). The code system for nest simply refers to the numbered tag placed at the nest (using three colours, g=green, w=white, b=brown) which were used randomly. The fields in this dataset are: Sample Date Breeding Phase Stimulus Type Environment Colony Nest Tape Heart Rate Temp File Neighbour

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