INDICATOR DEFINITION Count of all adult females, fully weaned pups and dead pups hauled out on, or close to, the day of maximum cow numbers, set for October 15. TYPE OF INDICATOR There are three types of indicators used in this report: 1.Describes the CONDITION of important elements of a system; 2.Show the extent of the major PRESSURES exerted on a system; 3.Determine RESPONSES to either condition or changes in the condition of a system. This indicator is one of: CONDITION RATIONALE FOR INDICATOR SELECTION Elephant seals from Macquarie Island are long distance foragers who can utilise the Southern Ocean both west as far as Heard Island and east as far as the Ross Sea. Thus their populations reflect foraging conditions across a vast area. The slow decline in their numbers (-2.3% annually from 1988-1993) suggests that their ocean foraging has been more difficult in recent decades. Furthermore, interactions with humans are negligible due to the absence of significant overlap in their diet with commercial fisheries. This suggests that changes in 'natural' ocean conditions may have altered aspects of prey availability. It is clear that seal numbers are changing in response to ocean conditions but at the moment these conditions cannot be specified. DESIGN AND STRATEGY FOR INDICATOR MONITORING PROGRAM Spatial Scale: Five beaches on Macquarie Island (lat54 degrees 37' 59.9' S, long 158 degrees 52' 59.9' E): North Head to Aurora Point; Aurora Point to Caroline Cove; Garden Cove to Sandy Bay; Sandy Bay to Waterfall Bay; Waterfall Bay to Hurd Point. Frequency: Annual census on 15th October Measurement Technique: Monitoring the Southern Elephant Seal population on Macquarie island requires a one day whole island adult female census on October 15 and a daily count of cow numbers, fully weaned pups and dead pups on the west and east isthmus beaches throughout October. Daily cow counts during October, along the isthmus beaches close to the Station, provide data to identify exactly the day of maximum numbers. The isthmus counts are recorded under the long-established (since 1950) harem names. Daily counts allow adjustment to the census totals if the day of maximum numbers of cows ashore happens to fall on either side of October 15. Personnel need to be dispersed around the island by October 15 so that all beaches are counted for seals on that day. This has been achieved successfully for the last 15 years. On the day of maximum haul out (around 15th October) the only Elephant seals present are cows, their young pups and adult males. The three classes can be readily distinguished and counted accurately. Lactating pups are not counted, their numbers are provided by the cow count on a 1:1 proportion. The combined count of cows, fully weaned pups and dead pups provides an index of pup production. The count of any group is made until there is agreement between counts to better than +/- 5%. Thus there is always a double count as a minimum; the number of counts can reach double figures when a large group is enumerated. The largest single group on Macquarie Island is that at West Razorback with greater than 1,000 cows; Multiple counts are always required there. RESEARCH ISSUES Much research has been done already to acquire demographic data so that population models can be produced. Thus there will be predicted population sizes for elephant seals on Macquarie Island in 2002 onwards and the annual censuses will allow these predictions to be tested against the actual numbers. The censuses are also a check on the population status of this endangered species. LINKS TO OTHER INDICATORS

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2307 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project ---- The project investigates microbial life in the Southern Ocean. The studies will investigate two areas - the role of bacteria in the regeneration of the important nutrient silica via decomposition of planktonic biomass and to assess the importance of prokaryotic polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) entering the marine food web from natural communities in Antarctic sea ice and the Southern Ocean. Project objectives: 1. Investigate the role of bacteria in the colonisation and decomposition of phytoplankton and concomitant redispersal of silica from phytoplankton in seawater of the Southern Ocean at various different latitudes. 2. Validate real-time PCR (5-prime nuclease PCR assay) for rapid quantification of key bacterial found in seawater to determine their association with phytoplankton decomposition and silica redispersal. Significance: Recent studies (Bidle and Azam, 1999) demonstrate that much silica regeneration in seawater is due to bacterial enzymatic activity and that diatom decomposition and silica release is highly accelerated in the presence of an active colonising bacterial population. The formation of bacterial biofilms and production of extracellular enzymes on phytoplanktic detritus and aggregates appears to lead to the direct breakdown of proteins and polysaccharides which hold together the diatom frustules. In the Southern Ocean this process could be significant as the foodweb there is sustained by phytoplanktonic (mostly diatom) primary productivity (Bunt 1963) whether it be in sea-ice or in the pelagic zone. If silica redispersal does not occur diatoms would instead eventually become buried in sediment with silica supplies becoming limited, except that supplied by aeolian and terrigenous input. In the marine environment half of primary-produced organic matter is degraded by bacteria (Cole et al., 1988). Thus the bacterial decomposition of diatom biomass and subsequent release of dissolved silica should be an important and relatively rapid process in Southern Ocean waters. At this stage there is still limited data on the role of bacteria in regeneration of silica in the overall marine environment. The study of Bidle and Azam (1999) examined seawater off of California and mostly examined the process itself. Currently, the role of specific bacteria is being examined by Kay Bidle (personal communication) and John Bowman is supplying various marine bacteria to assess this. In the proposed study we wish to examine the role of bacteria in the Southern Ocean in the decomposition of diatom biomass, rate of release of dissolved silica and bacterial groups involved in the process. This research should reveal some fundamental knowledge on a integral role of bacteria in Southern Ocean ecosystems. In order to assess the bacterial role in silica redispersal we wish to use three molecular ecological techniques: fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and real-time PCR. FISH and DGGE analysis are well established in John Bowmans laboratory and are being used routinely for analysis of Antarctic and Tasmanian natural samples (seawater and sediment). The real-time PCR analysis which can be used as a sensitive quantitative assay for bacterial populations in natural samples is currently in development using a recently purchased Rotorgene (Corbett Research) instrument. The method has been used to great effect in measuring rapidly bacterial populations in seawater (eg., Suzuki et al. 2000). Using these methods will allow us to accurately measure changes in bacterial populations during colonisation and decomposition of the diatom biomass during the silica redispersal experiments. There are two data files associated with this project. Part 1: Total of 9 files: File 1. Seawater sample data - information from two cruises in 2000 and 2001 - includes position of sample, types of sample, temperature and analyses performed subsequently. File 2. 16S rRNA gene sequences derived from Southern ocean seawater bacterial isolates. Sequences are all deposited in the GenBank nucleotide database and are in FASTA format. File 3. 16S rRNA gene sequences derived from denaturing gradient gel electrophoretic gel slices via extraction, PCR and cloning. Sequences are all deposited in the GenBank nucleotide database and are in FASTA format. File 4. Flavobacteria abundance in Southern Ocean samples on the basis of depth. Abundance determined using fluorescent insitu hybridisation using universal bacterial probe EUB338 and flavobacteria specific probe. Details of sites analysed are included in the seawater sample file. File 5. Flavobacteria abundance in Southern Ocean samples on the basis of latitude (transect from 47 S to 63 S). Abundance determined using fluorescent insitu hybridisation using universal bacterial probe EUB338, alphaproteobacteria, gammaproteobacteria and flavobacteria specific probe. Total count of bacteria was determined by epifluorescence using DAPI. Details of sites analysed are included in the seawater sample file. File 6. Nutrient and chlorophyll a data for samples studied (see seawater sample file) including nitrate, phosphate and silica. File 7. Bacterial isolate information including strain designations, site location, and identification to genus level. File 8. . Bacterial isolate fatty acid data for strains designated as novel in bacterial isolate information file. Fatty acids determined using GC-MS analytical methods. File 9. Bacterial isolate phenotypic data for strains designated as novel in bacterial isolate information file. Includes morphological, physicochemical, biochemical and nutritional profile data. Part 2: Total of 4 files: File 1. 16S rRNA gene sequences derived from denaturing gradient gel electrophoretic (DGGE) gel slices via extraction, PCR and cloning. DGGE analysis performed on samples analysed over 30 days from 20 litre microcosms derived from southern seawater to which was added 10 mg sterile diatom detritus derived from axenic Nitszchia closterium. Sequences are all deposited in the GenBank nucleotide database and are in FASTA format. File 2. Flavobacteria abundance in Southern Ocean seawater microcosms over 30 days. Abundance determined using real-time PCR using universal bacterial and flavobacteria specific PCR primers. File 3. Bacterial mediated silica release data from Southern Ocean seawater microcosms over 30 days. Includes non-detritus amended controls that indicate the natural level of of seawater silica. Silica analysis performed by a chemical procedure. File. 4. Seawater sample data obtained during 2001 indicating the sites for seawater used for creating 20 l microcosms and used to assess silica release by bacteria from diatom detritus.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 933 See the link below for public details on this project. Australian Antarctic and Southern Ocean Profiling Project (AASOPP) was the outcome of a government decision in 1999 that it would carry out the necessary work to place Australia in a position to be able to prepare a submission defining the outer limit the 'extended Continental Shelf' (ECS) off the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). The ECS is the area of seabed/subsoil jurisdiction extending beyond the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, and is defined by Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. AASOPP was set up in 2000, under the management of the Department of Finance and Administration and in consultation with the Australian Antarctic Division, to undertake the acquisition and interpretation of the data that would underpin a UN submission. Technical aspects of the work were largely the responsibility of the Australian Geological Survey Organisation and the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (later Geoscience Australia). Marine geophysical surveys were conducted in 2001/2 and 2002/3 by the primary contractors, FUGRO Geoteam supervised by AGSO (Geoscience Australia) using the vessels Geoarctic and Polar Duke (survey numbers GA227, GA228 and GA229). Data collected were seismic reflection, sonobuoy seismic refraction, magnetic and gravity profiles. Data processing was supervised by Geoscience Australia where they are archived. Seismic data were lodged with the SCAR Seismic Data Library. Law of the Sea interpretations were lodged as part of the Australian submission to the United Nations by November, 2004 with a request not to examine the Antarctic case until requested.

This study employs data from two satellite-borne instruments namely, the Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). This work was completed as part of an honours project under ASAC project 2210 (UV climate over the Southern Ocean south of Australia, and its biological impact). Further information about the project is available in the word document available for download (extract from the honours thesis). The fields in this dataset are: Region Year Day (Julian Day) Pixels (number of cloud free pixels from SeaWiFS sensor that were available for analysis) Mean Chlorophyll (milligrams per cubic metre) (derived from cloud free pixels) Standard Deviation Ozone (dobson units) from the TOMS sensor (average for whole region).

Current meter S4_212b is one of four current meters deployed off the coast of Casey Station, Australian Antarctic Territory. S4_211a was located in Shannon Bay at 66 degrees 16.727 minutes South, 110 degrees 31.434 minutes West. Further deployment details can be found in the 'Mooring Details' section of the data, as well as a 'Location Map'. The data includes: current speed components, current speed and current direction, a progressive vector diagram of displacement, and water temperature. The data were recorded by the Australian Antarctic Division, and processed by Oceanographic Field Services Pty Ltd. Data was recorded between 3:30am 18 November 1997 (GMT) and 7:30am 29 December 1998 (GMT). The fields in this dataset include: Date Time Speed (centimetres per second) Direction (degrees) Temperature (degrees)

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2301 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project ---- This study develops and combines the latest molecular and electronics technology into a comprehensive investigation of diet and food-web relationships of Southern Ocean predators (whales, seals, penguins) and commercial marine resources (krill, fish, squid). This type of information is essential for ecosystem models that set sustainable catch limits for fisheries. From the abstract of the referenced paper: We describe seven group-specific primer pairs that amplify small sections of ribosomal RNA genes suitable for identification of animal groups of major importance as prey items in marine ecosystems. These primer sets allow the isolation of DNA from the target animal groups from mixed pools of DNA, where DNA-based identification using universal primers is unlikely to succeed. The primers are designed for identifying prey and animal diets, but could be used in any situation where these animal groups are to be identified by their DNA. Progress report from the 2006/2007 Season: Overall objective This new multi-year initiative project within the AMLR program aims to develop and combine the latest molecular and electronics technology to facilitate a comprehensive investigation of appropriately scaled and strategically located trophodynamics of Southern Ocean higher marine predators and commercial marine living resources. The objectives and early experimental design are largely responsive to needs determined by the Australian Antarctic Division's core-function obligations to CCAMLR, as well as other international organisations, the most relevant of which are the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and Southern Ocean Global Ocean Ecology Dynamics (SO-GLOBEC). Traditionally studies of diet of higher predators have often relied upon the use of a single, uncalibrated, methodology, and samples are usually collected in a manner that precludes stratification by age and sex class. Such studies are often subordinate experiments to a larger overall project. In contrast, the power of this new initiative project will be its focus on calibration across a suite of established and novel molecular and macroscopic techniques, feeding trials in controlled situations, direct linkage of samples to age and sex classes, and a detailed knowledge of the foraging behaviour of a sub-set of sampled animals. The parallel development and incorporation of electronic tools to measure predator foraging ecology further strengthens this work. In order to achieve the aims of this study a multi-disciplinary, widely collaborative and multi-streamed program has been developed. Methodological development underpins the potential power of this project to delivery its objectives. The detailed design-phase of incorporating these new approaches into an experimental framework will follow this developmental phase. In order to best represent the sub-objectives of each phase of this study, the work has been divided into the following core components: * Experimental Design (phase 1: methodological development) * Development of DNA-based molecular techniques to measure prey harvesting * Validation trials of molecular techniques * Modelling/analysis to develop a matrix of methodologies to best predict prey composition in predator diet * Development of electronic equipment to measure prey harvesting * Validation trials of electronic equipment * Experimental Design (phase 2: ecological experiments) * Integrated, question driven, field experiments Some components of this work will run contemporaneously (eg. development of molecular and electronic tools). This project has now been completed. The novel DNA based methods for studying animal diet have been researched thoroughly in controlled conditions and demonstrated to be useful and an advance on existing methods. The DNA based dietary methods have also been successfully applied to studying the diet of Blue whales, Fin whales, Antarctic fur seals, Macaroni penguins, Antarctic krill and bottlenose dolphins.

This bibliography contains references to diseases, health, clinical biochemistry and pathology of captive and wild sea birds. The definition of a sea bird is broad and includes all species that feed within the marine environment and others which are related but inhabit other aquatic environments e.g. cormorants. The bibliography is comprehensive but not exhaustive. The compilers would appreciate lists of missed and new items for inclusion. These should be sent to the data officer at the Australian Antarctic Data Centre at the contact details listed below.

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2592 See the link below for public details on this project. The Southern Ocean is one the most significant regions on earth for regulating the build up of anthropogenic carbon in the atmosphere, and the capacity for carbon uptake in the region could be altered by climate change. The project aims to use repeat ocean sections to detect anthropogenic carbon storage, identify key processes regulating the amount of storage, and to test models that predict future uptake. The data are broken down by season and voyage, and a word document providing further details about the project is also available as part of the download file.

CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Statistical Reporting Subareas. GIS data representing the boundary (line) and centroid (point with the area name as an attribute) of each area. The southern boundary of the areas adjacent to Antarctica is the coastline of Antarctica. The coastline has not been included with this data. This dataset is no longer maintained by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre as the CCAMLR Statistical Reporting Subarea boundaries are now available from CCAMLR's Online GIS (see the Related URL).

A polygonised bathymetric dataset covering the Southern Ocean. The dataset was compiled from data sourced from the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) Digital Atlas, 2003 edition, and the Antarctic Digital Database, version 4.