First description of in situ chlorophyll fluorescence signal within East Antarctic coastal polynyas during fall and winter ...

• Main Authors: Bourreau, Lucie, Pauthenet, Etienne, Le Ster, Loïc, Picard, Baptiste, Portela, Esther, Sallée, Jean-Baptiste, McMahon, Clive R., Harcourt, Robert, Hindell, Mark, Guinet, Christophe, Bestley, Sophie, Charrassin, Jean-Benoît, DuVivier, Alice, Sylvester, Zephyr, Krumhardt, Kristen, Jenouvrier, Stéphanie, Labrousse, Sara
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2023
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; Sea ice; Antarctic polynya; biotelemetry; chlorophyll-a; CTD; Aquatic Science; Oceanography; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Phytoplankton; Ocean Engineering; Water Science and Technology; Global and Planetary Change; Antarctic; Cape Darnley; Darnley; East Antarctica; Harcourt; McMahon; Shackleton; Antarc*; Antarctica; Elephant Seals; Southern Elephant Seals
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wstqjq2rd; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.wstqjq2rd

Antarctic coastal polynyas are persistent and recurrent regions of open water located between the coast and the drifting pack-ice. In spring, they are the first polar areas to be exposed to light, leading to the development of phytoplankton blooms, making polynyas potential ecological hotspots in sea-ice regions. Knowledge on polynya oceanography and ecology during winter is limited due to their inaccessibility. This study describes i) the first in situ chlorophyll fluorescence signal (a proxy for chlorophyll-a concentration and thus presence of phytoplankton) in polynyas between the end of summer and winter, ii) assesses whether the signal persists through time and iii) identifies its main oceanographic drivers. The dataset comprises 698 profiles of fluorescence, temperature and salinity recorded by southern elephant seals in 2011, 2019–2021 in the Cape-Darnley (CDP;67˚S-69˚E) and Shackleton (SP;66˚S-95˚E) polynyas between February and September. A significant fluorescence signal was observed until April in ... : The dataset is composed of in situ profiles of temperature, salinity and fluorescence recorded by nine post-moulting male southern elephant seals (SES) equipped with CTD-Fluo-SRDLs (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth-Fluorescence Satellite Relay Data Loggers) (Boehme et al., 2009; Guinet et al., 2013) between 2011 and 2021. All SES visit a coastal polynya in East Antarctica at least once. Individual seals were anesthetized with an intravenous injection of a 1:1 combination of tiletamine and zolazepam (Zoletil 100) (McMahon et al., 2000; Field et al., 2002) to attach the instrumentation. The data loggers were glued to the seals heads using quick-setting epoxy (Araldite AW 2101, Ciba; Field et al., 2012). Data on seal’s diving behavior as well as in situ hydrographic conditions were transmitted when the seal surfaces to breathe through communication with polar-orbiting Argos satellites (Harcourt et al., 2019). Fluorescence measurements are used as a proxy to estimate the concentration of chlorophyll-a in the water ...