An opportunistic Marine Mammal survey between Harwich, UK and Rothera Research Station, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Mathews, Ryan, Frontier, Nadia
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre 2021
• Subjects: "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION","ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES","MAMMALS"; "EARTH SCIENCE","OCEANS","MARINE ENVIRONMENT MONITORING"; Atlantic; Dolphin; Marine Mammal; Southern Ocean; Whale; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Austral; Bird Island; King Edward Point; Rothera; Rothera Research Station; South Orkney Islands; Antarc*; Antarctica; Beaufort Sea; British Antarctic Survey
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5285/e50b1244-eed7-4bd9-a2ab-de1b172b69b3; https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01587

An opportunistic marine mammal survey through the Atlantic Ocean between the UK and Antarctica was undertaken in November and December 2020. The RRS James Clark Ross, was used to transfer cargo and personnel for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) from the UK to Rothera Research Station, Antarctica for the start of the 2020/2021 summer season. The transit and station relief included stops at King Edward Point and Bird Island, South Georgia, Falkland Islands and Signy Research Station, South Orkney Islands. The journey took a total of 48 days. Two JNCC marine mammal observers were on-board as well as other dedicated observers. Marine mammal observations were made as opportunistic sightings and recorded along with geographical position and other metadata. This transit and subsequent survey was unique in its passage as few vessels journey down the centre of the North and South Atlantic and continue on down the Western Antarctic Peninsula. British Antarctic Survey will continue to make this journey twice a year and it could provide a platform for an annual marine mammal survey of the entire Atlantic Ocean. : The data was gathered on the South bound transit of the RRS James Clark Ross between Harwich UK and Rothera Research Station. The transit which is primarily a shipment of cargo to undergo station relief at the beginning of the austral summer at four BAS Antarctic stations. In 2020 due to the logistical constraints related with COVID-19, the RRS James Clark Ross also transferred BAS personnel from the UK. On-board were experienced marine mammal surveyors and other dedicated scientist who conducted a marine mammal survey. Although many members of the team dedicated various amounts of time to surveying, sightings were opportunistic and could be made from anyone on the ship. All sightings data were gathered together into CyberTracker, a mobile phone app which included date, time, GPS position, Beaufort sea state, swell, visibility, sun glare, precipitation, distance from vessel, bearing from bow, animal behaviour, number of adults, number of calves, species group and species identification. The data was then extracted into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for later analysis. Survey effort was calculated as the total daylight hours for the 12:00 ships position. : CyberTracker 1.0.386 : An effort was made to record all sightings immediately by any observer informing the dedicated surveyors/data recorders when marine mammals were sighted. However, some sightings were reported later in the evening. The position of sightings was therefore calculated by ships track and time of sighting. Behaviour, distance and bearing was often not reported or trusted and therefore the data recorders did not include this information into the database for those sightings. Species ID was only decided by the experienced marine mammal surveyors at time of sighting and those who were frequently surveying and had undergone species ID training while on-board. Photographic images also allowed for species ID.