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This video is supplementary data for the publication entitled 'Internal physiology of live krill revealed using new aquaria techniques and mixed optical microscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging techniques'. The video is high resolution microscopy video of a live krill captured in the krill containment trap placed within the water bath. File size: 1.8 GB, 32 s duration. The optical microscopy was carried out using a Leica M205C dissecting stereomicroscope with a Leica DFC 450 camera and Leica LAS V4.0 software to collect high-resolution video. The experimental krill research project is designed to focus on obtaining life history information of use in managing the krill fishery - the largest Antarctic fishery. In particular, the project will concentrate on studies into impacts of climate change on key aspects of krill biology and ecology.
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This is a local copy of a metadata record and dataset stored at Dryad. This local copy is maintained in order to provide a link to the originating Australian Antarctic program project. See the link to the Dryad site at the provided URL for full details on this data set. Age is a fundamental aspect of animal ecology, but is difficult to determine in many species. Humpback whales exemplify this as they have a lifespan comparable to humans, mature sexually as early as four years and have no reliable visual age indicators after their first year. Current methods for estimating humpback age cannot be applied to all individuals and populations. Assays for human age have recently been developed recently based on age-induced changes in DNA methylation of specific genes. We used information on age-associated DNA methylation in human and mouse genes to identify homologous gene regions in humpbacks. Humpback skin samples were obtained from individuals with a known year of birth and employed to calibrate relationships between cytosine methylation and age. Seven of 37 cytosines assayed for methylation level in humpback skin had significant age-related profiles. The three most age-informative cytosine markers were selected for a humpback epigenetic age assay. The assay has an R2 of 0.787 (p = 3.04e-16) and predicts age from skin samples with a standard deviation of 2.991 years. The epigenetic method correctly determined which of parent-offspring pairs is the parent in more than 93% of cases. To demonstrate the potential of this technique, we constructed the first modern age profile of humpback whales off eastern Australia and compared the results to population structure five decades earlier. This is the first epigenetic age estimation method for a wild animal species and the approach we took for developing it can be applied to many other non model organisms.
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Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2897 See the link below for public details on this project. Public The aim of this multi-disciplinary proposal is to examine the molecular evolution of toxic proteins across the full taxonomical spectrum of venomous Antarctic marine animals. The project will create a comparative encyclopedia of the evolution of the venom system in the Antarctic marine animal kingdom and elucidate the underlying structure-function relationships between these toxic proteins. Through a process utilising cutting edge analytical techniques, such as cDNA cloning and molecular modelling, a feedback loop of bioactivity testing will be created to contribute substantially towards the area of drug design and development from toxic animal peptides. Project objectives: The aim of this project is to investigate the evolution of the molecular, structural and functional properties of Antarctic marine animal venom systems. This integrative project aims to investigate the origin and evolution of secreted proteins in the venom glands of toxic polar animals by means of: - Analysis of mechanisms of evolution in multigene families. - Phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary relationships among secreted proteins in the venom glands of major lineages; - Search for correlations between: (i) evolution of venom gland structure (ii) molecular evolution of venom components, and (iii) ecological specialisation of the animal - Bioactivity studies will be conducted upon representative purified or synthesised proteins. - A first ever comparison of the convergent strategies between Arctic and Antarctic endemic fauna. The results will help us to understand protein evolution, will cast light on the classic problem of how venom systems evolve, and may provide leads in the search for commercially-exploitable venom proteins. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: We have completed the genetic analyses of the specimens and sequence analyses. Phylogenetic positioning is robust other than a few deep level nodes. We are undertaking a second round of genetic analyses using different primers in order to resolve these nodes. Biochemical analyses of crude protein secretions from the posterior salivary (venom) glands has revealed temperature specific modifications of some of the venom components to adapt them to the polar conditions. We have tested the secretions in a battery of assays. We are now repeating those assays using purified proteins in order to determine which types are responsible for particular effects and also investigate synergistic interactions. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: We have undertaken genetic analyses of the specimens collected, and investigated specific adaptations of their venom systems. Results to-date include: - Antarctic octopuses are more genetically diverse than previously appreciated, including at least one new genus - an inverse relationship exists between the size of the venom gland and the size of the beak - their venoms have undergone temperature-specific adaptations
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These aerial survey data of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off southern Australia were collected in August 2017. Such annual flights in winter/spring between Cape Leeuwin (Western Australia) and Ceduna (South Australia) have now been conducted over a 25-year period 1993-2017. These surveys have provided evidence of a population trend of around 6% per year, and a current (at 2014) population size of approximately 2300 of what has been regarded as the 'western' Australian right whale subpopulation. With estimated population size in the low thousands, it is presumed to be still well below carrying capacity. No trend information is available for the 'eastern' subpopulation of animals occurring around the remainder of the southern Australian Coast, to at least as far as Sydney, New South Wales and the populations size is relatively small, probably in the low hundreds. A lower than expected 'western' count in 2015 gives weak evidence that the growth rate may be starting to show signs of slowing, though an exponential increase remains the best description of the data. If the low 2015 count is anomalous, future counts may be expected to show an exponential increase, but if it is not, modelling growth as other than simple exponential may be useful to explore in future
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These aerial survey data of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off southern Australia were collected in August 2018. Such annual flights in winter/spring between Cape Leeuwin (Western Australia) and Ceduna (South Australia) have now been conducted over a 26-year period 1993-2018. These surveys have provided evidence of a population trend of around 6% per year, and a current (at 2014) population size of approximately 2300 of what has been regarded as the 'western' Australian right whale subpopulation. With estimated population size in the low thousands, it is presumed to be still well below carrying capacity. No trend information is available for the 'eastern' subpopulation of animals occurring around the remainder of the southern Australian Coast, to at least as far as Sydney, New South Wales and the populations size is relatively small, probably in the low hundreds. A lower than expected 'western' count in 2015 gives weak evidence that the growth rate may be starting to show signs of slowing, though an exponential increase remains the best description of the data. If the low 2015 count is anomalous, future counts may be expected to show an exponential increase, but if it is not, modelling growth as other than simple exponential may be useful to explore in future.
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These aerial survey data of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off southern Australia were collected in September 2015. Such annual flights in winter/spring between Cape Leeuwin (Western Australia) and Ceduna (South Australia) have now been conducted over a 23-year period 1993-2015. These surveys have provided evidence of a population trend of around 6% per year, and a current (at 2014) population size of approximately 2300 of what has been regarded as the 'western' Australian right whale subpopulation. With estimated population size in the low thousands, it is presumed to be still well below carrying capacity. No trend information is available for the 'eastern' subpopulation of animals occurring around the remainder of the southern Australian Coast, to at least as far as Sydney, New South Wales and the populations size is relatively small, probably in the low hundreds. A lower than expected 'western' count in 2015 gives weak evidence that the growth rate may be starting to show signs of slowing, though an exponential increase remains the best description of the data. If the low 2015 count is anomalous, future counts may be expected to show an exponential increase, but if it is not, modelling growth as other than simple exponential may be useful to explore in future. A data update was provided in August, 2020 to correct some incorrectly given longitude values.
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This csv details the raw Argos locations generated from satellite tags attached to pygmy blue whales in order to describe their migratory movements through Australian waters as described in: Double MC, Andrews-Goff V, Jenner KCS, Jenner M-N, Laverick SM, et al. (2014) Migratory Movements of Pygmy Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) between Australia and Indonesia as Revealed by Satellite Telemetry. PLoS ONE 9(4): e93578. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093578 This csv includes the following data fields - ptt: the unique Argos identifier assigned to each satellite tag gmt: the date and time in gmt with the format 'yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss' class: the Argos assigned location class (see paper for details) latitude longitude deploydate: deployment date and time in gmt for each tag with the format 'yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss' filt: the outcome of the sdafilter (see paper for details) - either "removed" (location removed by the filter), "not" (location not removed) or "end_location" (location at the end of the track where the algorithm could not be applied)
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Spectra: one binary file per spectrum. Spectra can be processed using DOASIS or QDOAS software. Spectrum files are saved in folders numbered by date. Daily log files: for spectra (extra geometric information as well as latitude, longitude, solar zenith angle) and temperature (instrument, internal and external temperature measurements). Accelerometer: One ascii file per day with pitch, roll and yaw euler angles as the columns Images: taken by a small camera, co-directional with the MAX-DOAS, for context of broad light conditions (i.e. checking sunny/cloudy weather) Calibration files: Binary and text files for dark current, offset, slit function shape and wavelength calibrations
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RNA was extracted from pooled gonad tissues and tails of five sexually mature males and females, respectively, originating from the krill aquarium at the AAD in Tasmania, Australia. For RNA extractions, RNeasy mini kits (QIAGEN) were used and total RNA (8 micrograms each) was sent to Geneworks, South Australia (www.geneworks.com.au), for Illumina TruSeq 75 bp paired-end sequencing in two technical replica. Reads Yield Total Yield Krill_Male_sex_a_read1_sequence.txt 8,120,993 609,074,475 bases 1,218,148,950 bases Krill_Male_sex_a_read2_sequence.txt 8,120,993 609,074,475 bases Krill_Male_sex_b_read1_sequence.txt 10,465,586 784,918,950 bases 1,569,837,900 bases Krill_Male_sex_b_read2_sequence.txt 10,465,586 784,918,950 bases Krill_Male_tissue_a_read1_sequence.txt 7,867,804 590,085,300 bases 1,180,170,600 bases Krill_Male_tissue_a_read2_sequence.txt 7,867,804 590,085,300 bases Krill_Male_tissue_b_read1_sequence.txt 10,956,251 821,718,825 bases 1,793,118,450 bases Krill_Male_tissue_b_read2_sequence.txt 10,956,251 821,718,825 bases Krill_Female_sex_read1a_sequence.txt 29,447,654 2,208,574,050 bases 4,417,148,100 bases Krill_Female_sex_read2a_sequence.txt 29,447,654 2,208,574,050 bases Krill_Female_sex_read1b_sequence.txt 18,223,515 1,366,763,625 bases 2,733,527,250 bases Krill_Female_sex_read2b_sequence.txt 18,223,515 1,366,763,625 bases The insert size for these libraries is approx 160bp.
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Aerial surveys of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) were undertaken off the southern Australian coast to monitor the recovery of this endangered species following extreme 19th and 20th Century commercial whaling. The aerial survey was undertaken in the coastal waters from Perth (Western Australia) to Ceduna (South Australia) between the 12th and 17th August 2021, to maintain the annual series of surveys and inform the long-term population trend. The maximum whale counts for each leg of the survey flights between Cape Leeuwin and Ceduna, and consisted of a total 643 southern right whales sighted across the survey area (270 cow-calf pairs and 103 unaccompanied whales). The subsequent population estimate for the Australian ‘south-western’ population is 2,549 whales, which represents the majority of the Australian population given the very low numbers in the ‘south-eastern’ subpopulation. The population long-term trend data is indicating recent years (from 2007) are showing greater inter-annual variation in whale counts. To evaluate the recovery of the southern right whale population, it will be critical to collect long-term data on the annual variability in whale numbers related to the non-annual female breeding cycle and identify possible impacts on this by short-term climate dynamics, longer-term climate change and/or anthropogenic threats.