| Summary: | Progress Code: completed Statement: The Dates provided in temporal coverage are approximate only, and represent the beginning and end of the 2006 - 2010 Antarctic seasons. The latitudes and longitudes provided in spatial coverage are approximate only. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Variations to work plan or objectives: The early departure (mid February) from Casey was too early for the deployment of satellite tags. As these devices are glued to the hair of the seals, they cannot be deployed until after the annual moult, which is completed in late February. This will limit the data we collected from this region of the Antarctic coast, which in turn means that the combined coverage for the international MEOP program is considerably diminished. If shipping and air transport schedules provide for latter departures next season we anticipate getting satellite tags deployed then. Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2794 See the link below for public details on this project. Public: This study will use innovative technology to measure the winter spatial foraging patterns and net energy gain of adult female elephant seals (and potentially Weddell seals), while simultaneously providing high-resolution data on the physical nature of the water column in which the seals live. By combining biological and physical data with satellite derived sea-ice information, this study will improve our understanding of predator foraging success (and therefore mechanisms which regulate population trajectories) and provide physical oceanographers with fundamental data on the importance mechanisms that determine the winter ice and bottom water formation that under-pin the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Project objectives: The extent and nature of Antarctic winter sea ice is thought to have profound impacts on biological productivity, the recruitment of Antarctic krill, and the flow-on effects through the Antarctic marine food web. 1. Winter sea-ice formation is also hypothesised to play an important, yet highly-variable ...
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