This dataset contains information on the distribution of Penguins and their breeding colonies in the Australian Antarctic sector, as of 1983. It forms Australia's contribution to the International Survey of Antarctic Seabirds (ISAS). The results are listed in the documentation. These include counts of chicks, adults and nests, as well as colony distribution maps. The survey includes Emperor Penguins, Adelie Penguins, King Penguins, Gentoo Penguins, Macaroni Penguins, Rockhopper Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins and Royal Penguins. Original data were taken from ANARE Research Notes 9. Only data from the Australian Antarctic Territory is described in this metadata record. Images of rough maps detailing the locations of each of the colonies are available for download from the url given below. Observation and count data have been incorporated into the Australian Antarctic Data Centre's Biodiversity Database. The data are presented in the format of Croxall and Kirkwood (1979) as recommended by the Report of the Subcommittee on Bird Biology held in Pretoria. In the tables all counts are estimates of the number of breeding pairs except where otherwise indicated. The numerical estimates and counts are of three kinds, indicated by the coded N, C or A: NESTS (N = count of NESTS or breeding/incubating pairs) The most accurate count of breeding pairs is that derived from a count of nests. This is usually carried out during incubation, but may also be made while chicks are still in the nest, before creches are formed. Such counts are only underestimates of breeding pairs by the number of breeding failures sustained between egg laying and the date of the count. CHICKS (C = count of CHICKS) Late in the breeding season the only counts possible are those of chicks. In general most pygosceild penguins raise one chick per pair per season, so a count of chicks gives a reasonable approximation of the original number of breeding pairs. However, season to season variation in breeding success can often be considerable. For example Yeates (1968) reports breeding success in Adelie Penguins at Cape Royds of twenty-six per cent, forty-seven per cent and sixty-eight per cent ever three seasons. Also, Macaroni Penguins only raise approximately 0.5 chicks per pair per season, so that chick counts of this species may be a considerable underestimate of the true breeding population. ADULTS (A = count of ADULTS) Many colony counts and estimates were expressed as total number of birds or adults. These figures are difficult to interpret as they depend on the time during the breeding season at which they were made. For some days prior to and until laying is finished, both birds of a pair will be present at the nest site while during incubation it is more likely that only one bird will be present. A further problem with counts of 'birds' is that they may include individuals who are not breeding and this gives an overestimate of the true breeding population. The counts of 'birds' or 'adults' which appear unqualified in log books have been divided by two to give an estimate of the number of breeding pairs. It must be stressed therefore that these counts are the least accurate. The degree of accuracy of these counts is inevitably highly variable and it is often difficult to ascertain on what basis a figure was arrived at. For the present survey counts have been allocated to one of five degrees of accuracy. 1. Pairs/nests essentially individually counted. The count is probably accurate to better than + 5 per cent. 2. Numbers of pairs in a known area counted individually and knowing the total area of the colony, the overall total calculated. This technique is useful for very large colonies. 3. Accurate estimates; + 10-15 per cent accuracy. 4. Rough estimate; accurate to 25-50 per cent. 5. Guesstimate; to nearest order of magnitude. Many references are in the form ANARE (Johnstone) or simply ANARE. These refer to unpublished reports extracted from ANARE station biology logs. Those in the form Budd (1961) refer to published records and are listed in the references at the end of this publication. The locations of some colonies are indicated on maps. Place names that (as of 1983) have not yet been approved are shown in the tables and on the maps in parentheses, for example: (ROCKERY ISLAND).

The data are contained in a number of log books in hand written form (now scanned onto CD ROM. They were gathered according to a protocol updated annually by the Principal Investigator, DR Robert Carrick (now deceased). Details are contained in the paper Carrick R (1972) Population ecology of the Australian black-backed magpie, royal penguin, and silver gull. in: Population ecology of migratory birds - A symposium. US Dept of the Interior, Fish and wildlife service. Wildlife Research Report 2. pp 41-99. The only other information on the Royal penguin population to come from these investigations is the PhD Thesis of G.T. Smith, Studies on the behaviour and reproduction of the Royal penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus schlegeli. Australian National University April 1970. The log books contain a vast array of observations on the Royal penguin. Major observations/studies include banding of chicks and adults, breeding chronology, egg laying, breeding success, arrival weights, movements within and between colonies. The protocols for the collection of the data are missing although some instructions and notes are included in the volumes. Some data have also been entered into an excel spreadsheet.

The approximate extent of seabird colonies on Scullin Monolith, Mac.Robertson Land, Antarctica in 1986/87. The species include Adelie Penguin, Antarctic Petrel, Cape Petrel, Southern Fulmar and South Polar Skua.

The exact location of an Emperor Penguin Colony on Peterson Bank continually changes due to the changing ice conditions of where the colony is situated. The location confirmed on the 3rd of November 1994 on fast ice at Peterson Bank was 65.9333 S, 110.2 E, 41km NNW of Australia's Casey Station. The location was recorded by Ward Bremmers during a helicopter flight involved in the resupply operations from an ice-bound ship to Casey Station. The presence of chicks was confirmed on landing and an approximate count estimated chick numbers at 2000 with at least 1000 adults present. Many foraging animals were also observed in transit in the surrounding area. Approximately 100 dead chicks, ranging in age from a few weeks to 3 months old, were observed during a casual check in the immediate vicinity. The colony lies on fast ice amid grounded bergs in Peterson Bank. The surrounding icebergs are widely spaced (1-2km), so the colony site is relatively unsheltered from the prevailing easterly gales. The sea-ice thickness at the colony sites was 7-8m, suggesting the ice had been stable for the previous three or our seasons. However, during a second visit to the site on 24 December 1994, the ice at the colony site was breaking up, and 200 chicks in the process of moulting were observed drifting on a large ice floe. On the 24 of April in 1995, a large group of Adults on new ice amid grounded bergs in the Peterson Bank was sighted, suggesting that the colony was reforming. The fields in this dataset are: Date Latitude Longitude Number of Adults Number of Chicks Dead Chicks Comments

This layer is stored as two datasets (point and polygon)in the Geographical Information System (GIS). Points represent landing areas, mammal, flying bird and penguin data. Polygons represent the horizontal flight limits of helicopters and areas set aside for specific management purposes.

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

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

APIS data were collected between 1994 and 1999. This dataset also includes some historical data collected between 1985 and 1987. Both aerial and ship-board surveys were conducted. Studies on the behaviour of Pack-ice or Crabeater Seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) in the Southern Ocean and in the Australian Sector of Antarctica were also conducted as part of this study. Satellite tracking was used to determine their movement, durations on land and at sea, dive depths and dive duration etc. The four species of Antarctic pack ice seals (crabeater, leopard, Weddell, and Ross seals) are thought to comprise up to 50% or more of the world's total biomass of seals. As long-lived, top level predators in Southern Ocean ecosystems, pack ice seals are scientifically interesting because they can assist in monitoring shifts in ecosystem structure and function, especially changes that occur in sensitive polar areas in response to global climate changes. The APIS Program focuses on the ecological importance of pack ice seals and their interactions with physical and biotic features of their environment. This program is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary research initiative whose planning and implementation has involved scientists from more than a dozen countries. It is being developed and coordinated by the Group of Specialists on Seals of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and represents an important contribution to SCAR's Antarctic Global Change Program. Australian researchers have undertaken an ambitious science program studying the distribution and abundance of pack ice seals in support of the APIS Program. An excellent overview of this work is provided at the Australian Antarctic Division's web site. The following paragraphs provide a brief progress report of some of that work through 1998. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Four years of developmental work have now been completed in preparation for the Australian contribution to the circumpolar survey that will take place in December 1998. Until recently the main effort has been directed towards designing and building a system for automatic data logging of line transect data by double observers. Two systems identical in concept have been designed for aerial survey and shipboard survey. The systems consist of a number of sighting guns and keypads linked to a central computer. The sightings guns are used to measure the exact time and angle of declination from the horizon of seals passing abeam of the survey platform. Also logged regularly (10 second intervals) are GPS position and altitude (aerial survey only). The aerial survey system also has an audio backup. The aerial survey system has been trialled over three seasons and the shipboard system over one season. Preliminary analysis of aerial data indicates that the essential assumption of the line transect method is badly violated, reinforcing the need for double observers. Assumption violation is likely to be less in shipboard survey, but assessment of the assumption of perfect sightability on the line is still important. User manuals have been written for both the aerial and shipboard systems. An aerial survey system is being constructed for use by BAS in the coming season. A backup manual system for aerial and shipboard survey has also been developed in the event of the automatic system failing. The aerial backup system uses the perspex sighting frame developed by the US. A database has been designed for storage and analysis of aerial and shipboard data. Importing of data is fast and easy, allowing post-survey analysis and review immediately after each day's survey effort. Aides for training observers have been developed. A video on species identification has been produced. A Powerpoint slide show has been designed to simulate aerial survey conditions and use of the automatic data logging system. Currently effort has been directed toward developing an optimal survey design. While a general survey plan is necessary, it must be flexible to deal with unpredictable ice and weather conditions. It is planned to use both the ship and two Sikorsky 76 helicopters as survey platforms. The ship will be used to survey into and out from stations, and inwards from the ice edge for approximately 60 miles. The helicopters will be used to survey southwards from the ship for distances up to 140 miles in favourable weather. Helicopters will fly in tandem, with transects 10 miles apart. Studies of crabeater seal haul-out behaviour have been conducted over the past four seasons. Twenty SLTDRs have been deployed in the breeding season (September-October). The length of deployments varies from a few days to 3 months. No transmissions have been received after mid-January, probably due to loss of instruments during the moult. Most instruments have transmitted data through the survey period of November-December. Haul-out behaviour is consistent between animals and years. However, five more instruments will be deployed in the survey season to ensure there is haul-out data concurrent with the survey effort. Some observations of penguins and whales were also made. The accompanying dataset includes three Microsoft Access databases (stored in both Access 97 and Access 2002 formats), as well as two Microsoft Word documents, which provide additional information about these data. The fields in this dataset are: Date Time Time since previous sighting Side (of aircraft/ship) Seen by (observer) Latitude Longitude Number of adults Number of pups Species (LPD - Leopard Seal, WED - Weddell Seal, SES - Southern Elephant Seal, CBE - Crabeater Seal, UNS - Unknown Seal, ADE - Adelie Penguin, ROS - Ross Seal, EMP - Emperor Penguin, MKE - Minke Whale, ORC - Orca Whale, UNP - Unknown Penguin, UNW - Unknown Whale) SpCert - How certain the observer was of correct identification - a tick indicates certainty Distance from Observer (metres) Movement Categories - N: no data, S: stationary, MB: moved body, MBP: moved body and position, movement distance: -99 no data, negative values moved towards flight line, positive distance moved away from flight line Distance dart gun fired from animal (in metres) Approach method (S = ship, H = helicopter, Z = unknown) Approach distance (metres) Group (S = single, P = pair, F = family (male, female and pup)) Sex Guessed Weight (kg) Drugs used Maximum Sedation Level (CS = Colin Southwell, MT = Mark Tahmidjis) Time to maximum sedation level Time to return to normal Heart rate (maximum, minimum) Respiration rate (maximum, minimum, resting) Arousal Level (1 = calm, 2 = slight, 3 = strong) Arousal Level Cat1 (1 = calm, 2 = 2+3 from above) Apnoea (maximum length of apnoea in minutes) Comments Time at depth - reading taken every 10 seconds, and whichever depth incremented upwards by 1. Time period (NT - 21:00-03:00, MN - 03:00-09:00, MD - 09:00-15:00, AF - 15:00-21:00) Seal Age - (A = Adult, SA = sub-Adult) WCId - Wildlife Computers Identification Number for SLTDR Length, width, girth (body, head, flippers) (cm) Blood, blubber, skin, hair, tooth, scat, nasal swab - sample taken, yes or no. In general, Y = Yes, N = No, ND = No Data This work was also completed as part of ASAC projects 775 and 2263.