Antarctic Fur seal pup weight at Bird Island, South Georgia, from 1973 to 2020

• Main Author: Forcada, Jaume
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre 2021
• Subjects: "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOSPHERE","ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS"; "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION","ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES","MAMMALS","CARNIVORES","SEALS/SEA LIONS/WALRUSES"; "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOSPHERE","ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS","SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS","SPECIES LIFE HISTORY"; Antarctic Fur seal; Arctocephalus gazella; Bird Island; pup mass; Antarctic; Sandwich Islands; South Sandwich Islands; South Georgia; Main Bay; Antarc*; Antarctic Fur Seal; British Antarctic Survey; walrus*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5285/692fb625-ea99-4896-8354-b4da490535bb; https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/00334

The weight of Antarctic fur seal pups at Main Bay on Bird Island have been measured since 1973. 50 pups on the beach and 50 pups in the Tussac grass at the back of the beach are sexed and weighed in January, February and March each year. This work was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (UK) core funding to the British Antarctic Survey : 50 seal pups on the beach at Main Bay and 50 from the tussock area behind the beach are weighed using a pesola and bag in January, February and March each year. The January weighing is done one month after the Peak Pupping date at the Seal Study Beach (SSB) and the February and March weighings 1 and 2 months after this respectively. Pups are sexed and assigned a moult score where 0 = No moult, 1 = Partial moult (usually head and a bit of the back), 2 = Advanced moult (At least 50% of body), 3 = Completely moulted. A pup is marked using spray paint after it has been weighed to prevent it being reweighed during the same weighing event. All data were collected under permit from the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. All sampling procedures used were regulated by the British Antarctic Survey Ethical Review Committee in collaboration with Cambridge University and the UK Home Office.