The RAN Australian Hydrographic Service conducted hydrographic survey HI290 at Heard Island, February to March 1997. The survey dataset, which includes the Report of Survey, was provided to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre by the Australian Hydrographic Office and is available for download from a Related URL in this metadata record. The survey was lead by LT R.D.Bowden. The spatial extent given in this metadata record is that of Heard Island as the spatial extent of the survey is unknown to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre. The data are not suitable for navigation.

Edited version of a video showing three elephant seals interacting with a toothfish longline. Taken from the abstract of the referenced paper: Humans have devised fishing technologies that compete with marine predators for fish resources world-wide. One such fishery for the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) has developed interactions with a range of predators, some of which are marine mammals capable of diving to extreme depths for extended periods. A deep-sea camera system deployed within a toothfish fishery operating in the Southern Ocean acquired the first-ever video footage of an extreme-diver, the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina), depredating catch from longlines set at depths in excess of 1000m. The interactions recorded were non-lethal, however independent fisheries observer reports confirm elephant seal-longline interactions can be lethal. The seals behaviour of depredating catch at depth during the line soak-period differs to other surface-breathing species and thus presents a unique challenge to mitigate their by-catch. Deployments of deep-sea cameras on exploratory fishing gear prior to licencing and permit approvals would gather valuable information regarding the nature of interactions between deep diving/dwelling marine species and longline fisheries operating at bathypelagic depths. Furthermore, the positive identification by sex and age class of species interacting with commercial fisheries would assist in formulating management plans and mitigation strategies founded on species-specific life-history strategies.

This dataset is a spreadsheet with planimetric areas of the seabed within the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve and adjacent Conservation Zone. The areas are provided for one hundred metre depth ranges and are given in square kilometres. The areas were calculated for the Wildlife Conservation and Fisheries research group at the Australian Antarctic Division. Depth data was sourced from a bathymetric grid of the Kerguelen Plateau by R.J.Beaman of James Cook University, Australia and P.E.O'Brien of Geoscience Australia and published by Geoscience Australia. See a Related URL below for a link to the metadata record describing the bathymetric grid. The Marine Reserve and Conservation Zone boundaries were sourced from the Australian Government's Australian Marine Parks Division. See the provided URL for a link to the department's website.

This dataset contains the data from Voyage 7.2 1989-90 of the Aurora Australis. The observations were taken from around Heard Island between May and June 1990. The objective of the zooplankton program was to determine the composition, distribution and abundance of zooplankton with the Heard Island-Kerguelen area, thus providing information of food availability to planktivorous fish. Surveys of krill and other zooplankton were made to obtain species identity and abundance data, length and age. Euphausia valentini and Themisto gaudichaudi were found to be the dominant species in the region. Other major species included the euphausiid Thysanoessa, the copepod Rhincalanus gigas and chaetognaths of the genus Sagitta. This dataset is a subset of the full cruise.

A report and images taken as part of ASAC (AAS) project 380 - Archaeological Investigation of Sealing Sites at Heard Island. Taken from the report: From November 1986 to January 1987 the authors participated in the ANARE expedition to Heard Island. Our objectives were: 1) To undertake a survey of historic archaeological sites of Heard Island and to compile an inventory of sites. 2) At the request of the Antarctic Division to salvage certain sealing-era artefacts identified in the 1985/86 ANARE report as being at risk. 3) At the request of the Antarctic Division, to record the site of the historic ANARE station at Atlas Cove, to assess the significance of surviving site features and make recommendations for the conservation of significant elements. 4) To provide a report to the Australian Heritage Commission documenting the location, description and assessment of the various sealing and other historic places located during the 1986-87 expedition. Sealing sites on Heard Island can be categorised into five types based on structural and functional differences. These five types are: a) stone platforms b) hut footings or ruins c) occupied caves d) barrels e) grave All types of sites are found on the various beaches around the island, except that stone platforms appear to be confined to the southern beaches, and only one grave is known.

A GPS survey of seabirds on Heard Island during the Australian Antarctic Program's 2000/01 expedition. This layer is stored as two datasets (polygon and point) in the Geographical Information System (GIS). Polygon data represent flying bird and penguin colony extents. Point data represent nest locations and the location of the observation point for flying birds and penguins.

Ship-based observations of birds, seals and whales from the original 'ANARE Bird Log' books have been recovered into a single repository of sightings and associated abiotic information. ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions) is the historic acronym for these voyages. A few voyages have been included that were not part of ANARE but have Australian observers or volunteer observers. Voyages start from the 1947/48 austral season up to 1982/83 with an average of 3 voyages per season. There are a few voyages where there is no data. It is not known if either no bird observations were undertaken during this period or that the bird logs exist if observations were undertaken. Current counts are birds, seals and whales Observing platforms include the following ships - Wyatt Earp, Tottan, River Fitzroy, Norsel, Kista Dan, Thala Dan, Magga Dan, Nella Dan, Lady Franklin and Nanok S and a single voyage from the private yacht Solo. The quality and quantity of abiotic data associated with observations such as air temperature, sea ice cover etc vary immensely from voyage to voyage. Where possible this data has been entered. This dataset contains very little information on estimates of survey effort and cannot be used to derive useful presence/absence spatial coverages of species during this period. It is purely sighting data only.

Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme Bird Banding records from the Australian Antarctic Territory and Heard Island, a subset of banding and recovery records from within Australian Antarctic Territory and Heard Island. The Australian Government under the auspices of the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS) manages the collation of information on threatened and migratory bird and bat species. The information provided spans from 1953 to the present, and contains over 2 million records. This set comprises records of banding and recovery in the Australian Antarctic territory. Records are also included if the bird was recovered or banded outside this region. The ABBBS site is at http://www.environment.gov.au/science/bird-and-bat-banding.

The RAN Australian Hydrographic Service have conducted hydrographic surveys near the coasts of the Australian Antarctic Territory and Heard Island and Macquarie Island. Data and metadata for hydrographic surveys by the RAN Australian Hydrographic Service in Antarctica and at Heard Island and Macquarie Island has been provided to the Australian Antarctic Data Centre by the Australian Hydrographic Office. The survey locations in Antarctica were Mawson, Davis, Casey and Commonwealth Bay. The surveys were conducted since December 1993. Generally the surveys are denoted by a Hydrographic Instruction (HI) eg HI176. There is a metadata record for each survey from which the survey data and metadata can be obtained. The metadata records for the individual surveys are linked to this metadata record. The Australian Antarctic Data Centre has also had the soundings digitised from the fair sheets produced from earlier hydrographic surveys by the RAN Australian Hydrographic Service at Casey, Davis and Mawson. Metadata records describe the digitised soundings are also linked to this metadata record.

Bathymetry around Heard and McDonald Islands and the Kerguelen Plateau. This layer is stored as two datasets (line and polygon) in the Geographical Information System (GIS). The line data were interpolated from soundings made on ANARE voyages and soundings provided by the Royal Australian Navy Hydrographic Service. The line data were polygonised to create the polygon data. The data were produced for a 1:1 million scale bathymetric map (refer to link).