This dataset contains sporadic shore based observations of killer whales (Orcinus orca) from Macquarie Island from 1989 to 1998 (inclusive). The following data are included in the dataset: Date and time of observation (Australian Eastern Standard Time) The name of the observer The location of the observation (the beach or bay from which the observation was made). The latitude and longitude of the sighted animal (WGS84). The sex of the animal (M=Male, F=Female) (where available). Lifestage of the animal (where available). The observed individual count. Extra notes relating to the observation.

This dataset contains the results from studies of the Weddell Seal (Lepotonychotes weddellii) in the Vestfold Hills region, Antarctica. Results from tagging surveys, photographs and aerial surveys since 1973 are reported. Numbers, life stage, sex, moult stage and migration patterns have been reported. Fecal samples have been collected and from the otoliths, vertebrae, cephalopod beaks and crustacean remains, the diets and feeding habits have been investigated. Many of the results are reported in the document. This metadata record encompasses ASAC projects 89, 95 and 199 (ASAC_89, ASAC_95, ASAC_199).

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)).

This dataset is a census of penguin colony counts from the year 1900 in the Antarctic region. It forms part of the Inventory of Antarctic seabird breeding sites within the Antarctic and subantarctic islands. The Antarctic and subantarctic fauna database (seabirds) is a database detailing the distribution and abundance of breeding localities for Antarctic and Subantarctic seabirds. Each species' compilation was produced by members of the SCAR Bird Biology Subcommittee. This separate metadata record has been created beacause it represents only the penguin colony counts that have been published to OBIS. Note: The Year (not day or month) date is only relevent in this dataset. The positions that have been published to OBIS include latitude and longitude positions that were not included within the original dataset. The latitude and longitude positions that were not noted by the observer have been created from the locality given by the observer using the Antarctic Composite Gazetteer. Two spreadsheets are available for download, from the URL given below. The original, unmodified spreadsheet is available, as well as a corrected spreadsheet. In the corrected spreadsheet, the AADC has attempted to reconcile the poorly presented localities into a single column. It is possible that some of these localities may not be correct. The fields in this dataset are: SCAR Number Species Region Locality Longitude Latitude Number of Colonies Number of Pairs Type and accuracy of count Data Date References Remarks These data are further referenced in ANARE Research Notes 9 - see reference below.

At Heard Island, Southern Indian Ocean, seals were branded between 1949-1953. Seal length was measured in feet and inches. Recaptures of seals were made up until 1955, and growth and age-specific survival was calculated.

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/)

This dataset contains the results from studies of the Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) at Macquarie Island. Results from branding surveys and photographs from 1985 onwards are reported. Numbers, life stage, sex, moult stage and migration patterns have been reported. Currently some 2000 pups a year are branded and the dataset includes birth dates, weights at birth and weaning and at 6, 12 and 18 months. This work was completed as part of ASAC (AAS) project 2265 (ASAC_2265). Objectives: 1. To prepare research papers, from the extensive southern elephant seal dataset, that deal with key demographic parameters of the population such as size, age specific survivorship, fecundity, recruitment into the breeding population, age specific growth rates, and intrinsic rate of change of the population. In addition, later papers will investigate interannual variability in these parameters, how these relate to changing environmental conditions, and the effects of this on long term population fluctuations. 2. To analyse and compare stable isotope ratios in the facial vibrissae of the seals and the hard parts of their prey to determine the geographical positions of the major foraging grounds of the seals. The isotope values will also allow the food webs, that support the seals, to be better defined. 3. To measure the growth rates of elephant seal vibrissae so that changing isotope values, related to the prey and foraging areas, can be referred to particular foraging periods. Elephant seals characteristically have two separate periods of foraging: one in summer and one in winter. The positions of these episodes on a vibrissa can be identified once the growth rates of vibrissae are known. Taken from the progress report for the 2009-2010 season: Progress against objectives: 1. One paper published from the elephant seal dataset. Two papers also published during 2009/10 using data collected opportunistically during the life of this project. 2. PhD student Andrea Walters continues to analyse the results of the whisker analyses. She has presented some of her results at the AMSA 2009 marine connectivity conference in Adelaide. An honours student has been engaged (start date March 2010) to analyse the squid component of the seals' diet. 3. John van den Hoff spent the early summer at Macquarie Island finalising the collection of the demographic data. 2154 tag/brand resights were recorded. Collection of the data has continued on the island by Chris Oosthuizen, Ben Arthur and Iain Field since John returned to Australia. When those field workers return data collection will cease.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 915 and 2253 See the link below for public details on these projects. Our cetacean research is conducted on multidisciplinary cruises aimed at investigating environmental change and ecosystem effects. Our research approach now integrates broad scale acoustic monitoring with fine scale ecology experiments during annual surveys with AMLR. These data will allow us to connect fine scale variability with regional and circum-Antarctic processes, and eventually to understand how the dynamics of the Antarctic ecosystem and environmental change might affect the recovery of whale populations. The BROKE WEST multidisciplinary survey to be held in the 2005/2006 season will provide a large-scale simultaneously collected dataset within which to analyse the cetacean distribution, ecological and acoustic data. These sightings were made on Australian Antarctic Division voyages. For further information about these voyages, see the URL given below. Codes provided in the download file for voyage come in two formats: V70102 - Voyage 7 of the 2001/2002 season KK0102 - Use of the Kapitan Khlebnikov by the Australian Antarctic Division in the 2001/2002 season. The download file will include an excel spreadsheet of sightings, resightings and incidental sightings, as well as an explanatory word document. For further details on methods used, and an explanation of the types of data collected, see the above mentioned word document. These data were collected as part of ASAC projects 915 and 2253 (ASAC_915 and ASAC_2253). The fields in this dataset are: Voyage Data Logger (Logger/Wincruz) Date Time Observer Method Bearing Distance (nautical miles) Swim Direction Near Ice Species Reaction Group Size Latitude Longitude

Metadata record for data expected from ASAC Project 2163 See the link below for public details on this project. Records of observations of kelp rafts passing within 50 m of one side of the vessel over replicated periods of 1 hour. Data collected over subantarctic latitudes only. Records include: size, species, presence/absence of holdfast, latitude and longitude, ship speed.

A repository of all ARGOS satellite messages from 1982 to present. Trackers have been used on AWS stations, buoys and numerous species of whales, seals and seabirds. ARGOS is a means of sending data back from PTT devices - Position Tracking Terminals. However, the subject does not necessarily have to be moving - as in the case of the Automatic Weather Stations (AWS), which use ARGOS for relaying meteorological data back to Australia. Animal species that have been or are currently monitored by the Australian Antarctic Program using the ARGOS system include: Grey-headed Albatross Black-browed Albatross Light mantled sooty albatross Australian Fur Seal Antarctic Fur Seal Weddell Seal Ross seal Crabeater seal Southern Elephant Seal Emperor Penguin King Penguin Macaroni Penguin Adelie Penguin Pygmy Blue Whale Locations in which the ARGOS system is/was being used by the Australian Antarctic Program are: Admiralty Bay Albatross Island Almagro Auster Rookery Bechervaise Island Cape Gantheaume Caroline Cove Casey Davis Diego Ramirez Dumont d'Urville, Base Edmonson Point Ildefonso Inexpressible Island Macquarie Island Magnetic Island Pedra Branca Scullin Monolith Shirley Island Spit Bay Taylor Rookery Ufs Island Each day, data is retrieved via telnet client from the ARGOS site in France. A batch process parses the data files and inserts into the Data Centre database by 0800 local time. End-users can subscribe to an email describing the recent data uploads. Web-based tools are provided to filter the data by bounding box, time span and type of message quality. Finally a optional velocity filter can be applied to remove spurious positions that should not be reachable by that particular species. For example, seal data can be filtered for positions that would require speeds in excess of 10 km/hr. The same tool ascribes species, gender, age class and breeding status to each set of data. A separate control allows the filtered data to be published to the general public and/or to OBIS and GBIF via web services. Output products include maps, excel spreadsheets and KML files for mapping data on Google Earth.