Predicting the distribution of foraging seabirds during a period of heightened environmental variability

• Other Authors: Evans, Rhian (pointOfContact), Evans, Rhian (hasPrincipalInvestigator), IMAS Data Manager (pointOfContact), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania (UTAS) (hasAssociationWith), Lea, Mary-Anne (hasPrincipalInvestigator), Lea, Mary-Anne, Dr (hasPrincipalInvestigator), Mary-Anne Lea (hasPrincipalInvestigator)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Ocean Data Network
• Subjects: oceans; boat-based ocean sampling; visual survey; procellariiformes; penguin; EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOSYSTEMS | MARINE ECOSYSTEMS | COASTAL; EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOSYSTEMS | AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS | PLANKTON | ZOOPLANKTON; EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOSYSTEMS; EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS | ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS | TROPHIC DYNAMICS; EARTH SCIENCE | BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION | ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES | BIRDS | ALBATROSSES/PETRELS AND ALLIES; EARTH SCIENCE | BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION | ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES | FISH; EARTH SCIENCE | OCEANS | OCEAN ACOUSTICS | ACOUSTIC SCATTERING; Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology); BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; ECOLOGY; Ecological Impacts of Climate Change; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS; Bushnell; Kongsberg; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.25959/9wq3-0695; https://researchdata.edu.au/predicting-distribution-foraging-environmental-variability/1668591

Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned Statement: Zooplankton were sampled by oblique tows of a bongo net (mesh size 200 μm; mouth diameter 75 cm). Nets were deployed to 40m. Fish school presence/absence was quantified using a scientific SIMRAD ES60 (Kongsberg Simrad AS) single-beam echo-sounder system (120 kHz, average ping rate of 1 per second). The transducer was mounted on a pole arm configuration ~1 m under the surface of the water, on the same side of the boat as seabird surveys were carried out. Seabirds were surveyed using visual survey techniques following the method of Tasker et al. (1984). We used binoculars (7 x 50 magnification, Bushnell, Bushnell Corporation, Kansas City, USA) to count and identify seabirds to species level in one forequarter of the ship’s bow to 300m swath width. Credit Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation Inc. (SWR/8/2015) Credit Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment Credit In kind support - the University of Tasmania Ecosystem data was collected as part of an integrated study of the continental shelf over a 2 and a half year period between November 2015 and January 2018. Data were collected bi-monthly through the spring to autumn (November, January, March, May). Stations were situated perpendicular to shelf bathymetry, ranging in depth from ~50 m to 100 m near the edge of the shelf and were located between 5 km and 15 km from land; encompassing from south Storm Bay, past the southern tip of Bruny Island and into the Southern Ocean (south-east Tasmania, Australia). Data collected focused on each trophic level, characterizing the zooplankton community, fish schools and marine predators. The overarching aim of the study was to investigate the effects of long term warming, and a marine heatwave event on zooplankton dynamics in terms of community response variables and the flow-on effects of changing lower-trophic level dynamics for top predators.