Full description
This project aimed to identify and map critical habitats for Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea) to assess the ecological value of different habitats, and identify risks to their populations. Video imagery, GPS, time-depth and accelerometer/magnetometer data was captured from eight adult female Australian sea lions from Olive Island (n=4) on the western Eyre Peninsula and Seal Bay (n=4) on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Sea lions were instrumented with animal-borne cameras with integrated accelerometers/magnetometers (CATS Cam, 135 x 96 x 40 mm, 400 g) and satellite-linked GPS loggers with integrated time-depth recorders (SPLASH-10, Wildlife Computers, 100 x 65 x 32 mm, 200 g). Sea lions were sedated and anaesthetised and bio-logging instruments were glued to the pelage on the dorsal midline. Bio-logging instruments were recovered after a single foraging trip (~1-6 days).The data collected in this project provides fundamental information on critical benthic habitats for Australian sea lions, the differences in foraging behaviour of individual sea lions, and their prey preferences. This information improves our understanding of threats to sea lion populations and will support future conservation actions to recover the species.
Lineage
Maintenance and Update Frequency: notPlanned
Statement: Eight adult female Australian sea lions from Olive Island (n=4) and Seal Bay (n=4) in South Australia were instrumented with animal-borne cameras with integrated accelerometers/magnetometers (CATS Cam, 135 x 96 x 40 mm, 400 g) and satellite-linked GPS loggers with integrated time-depth recorders ((SPLASH-10, Wildlife Computers, 100 x 65 x 32 mm, 200 g). Sea lions were sedated and anaesthetised and bio-logging instruments were glued to the pelage on the dorsal midline. Bio-logging instruments were recovered after a single foraging trip (~1-6 days).
High-definition video (anterior perspective) was collected while animals were at sea, at depths greater than 5 meters, during daylight hours (between 0800-1700 local time). Batteries in the camera allowed ~13 hours of filming, this regime hence enabled filming coverage of 2-3 days of time at sea.
Satellite-linked GPS loggers collected Fastloc® locations when animals surfaced, by capturing a sub-second snapshot of signals from orbiting satellite constellations at two-minute intervals (the minimum rate programmable). When dive durations exceeded two minutes, locations were sought when the device next surfaced. Locations obtained from four or fewer satellites were discarded. Time-depth recorders (TDRs) measured depth every second.
Tria-axial accelerometers measured body movement (G-force), for surge (anterior-posterior), sway (lateral) and heave (dorsal-ventral) axes at 20 Hz. Tri-axial magnetometers measured the earth’s magnetic field intensity in microteslas (µT) for roll (longitudinal, north), pitch (transverse, east) and yaw (vertical, down) axes at 1 Hz.
---DATA STRUCTURE---
Data is organised into a folder for each sea lion, containing the following sub-folders:
- CATS Cam Files: Direct data export from CATS camera. The CSV file contains all the dive and environmental attributes recorded by the CATS camera, e.g. accelerometer (units: m/s²), magnetometer (units: μT), depth (units: m), light (raw units: for triggering camera), temperature (°C).
- CATS Video Files: Contains all video files collected by the CATS camera. Each filename contains datetime (local) in the YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS
- Wildlife Computers File: Contains the raw file from the Wildlife Computers SPLASH-10 tag (users will need the Mk10 Host software, downloaded from the Wildlife Computers website, to open this file). Exported GPS data in a non-proprietary format is contained in the next folder (GPS).
- GPS: contains the GPS information collected by the Wildlife Computers SPLASH-10 tag (note these are the files generated when the raw Wildlife Computers file (.wch) is processed to generate the FastLoc GPS locations (KMZ file) on the Wildlife Computers Data Portal site). Users will most likely want the Locations.csv or FastLocGPS.kmz file, which contains lat/lon, datetime, and a quality score for the captured satellite information.
- TDR: contains the depth file collected by the Wildlife Computers SPLASH-10 tag (this is the file generated when the raw Wildlife Computers file (.wch) is opened in the Mk10 Host software)
---VISUALISATIONS---
Mapping visualisations are available for select aspects of this data collection at the WMS endpoints described in this record. For visualisations, spurious GPS locations (typically >5km from adjacent GPS fixes, or otherwise indicating unrealistic movement speeds) were removed. Note that the raw data contains all GPS information reported by the FastLoc system
Notes
CreditThe data collections described in this record are funded by the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) through the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub. In addition to NESP (DCCEEW) funding, this project is matched by an equivalent amount of in-kind support and co-investment from project partners and collaborators.
Credit
The Ecological Society of Australia (Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment)
The Ecological Society of Australia (Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment)
Credit
Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA
Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA
Credit
Department for Environment and Water
Department for Environment and Water
Credit
Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation
Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation
Data time period: 2022-12-02 to 2023-08-26
text: westlimit=133.637312; southlimit=-33.11731; eastlimit=134.221566; northlimit=-32.489377
text: westlimit=136.868236; southlimit=-37.297653; eastlimit=138.462855; northlimit=-35.783062
text: uplimit=170; downlimit=0
Subjects
ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES |
ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES |
Accelerometer |
Accelerometer data |
Animal-borne video |
Australian sea lion |
BENTHIC |
BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION |
BIOSPHERE |
Benthic habitats |
Bio-logging |
CARNIVORES |
Coastal Waters (Australia) | Coastal Waters (Australia) | South Australia Coast, SA |
Continental shelf |
DEMERSAL |
EARTH SCIENCE |
EARTH SCIENCE SERVICES |
ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS |
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORIES |
Foraging behaviour |
GPS data |
Habitat mapping |
MACROALGAE (SEAWEEDS) |
MAMMALS |
MARINE ADVISORIES |
MARINE BIOLOGY |
MARINE ECOSYSTEMS |
MARINE ENVIRONMENT MONITORING |
MARINE SEDIMENTS |
Magnetometer |
Magnetometer data |
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub |
OCEANS |
Otariid |
Pinniped |
Predation |
REEF |
SEALS/SEA LIONS/WALRUSES |
SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS |
Satellite-linked GPS logger |
Southern Australia |
Time-depth data |
Time-depth recorder |
USE/FEEDING HABITATS |
biota |
oceans |
User Contributed Tags
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Other Information
(DATA ACCESS - selectively browse and download video and tracking files by sea lion individual [warning: video download packages may be large])
url :
https://data.imas.utas.edu.au/attachments/84cb1709-a669-4f2c-b97b-5eceb7929349/raw/
(View & explore sea lion videos and tracking data in the Seamap Australia mapping portal)
url :
https://seamapaustralia.org/map/#44679973-ab74-4e83-a9f7-b5ec449a15a1
Tracking and animal-borne video from Australian Sea Lions (for use in desktop GIS or mapping portals) (MaC_2_6_AusSeaLions_video_tracking)
url :
https://geoserver.imas.utas.edu.au/geoserver/wms
global : 0bbc661d-d18b-441f-9b81-58810d1cf767
local : 042gmmd19
local : 0000-0003-4988-9085
local : 00892tw58
local : 0000-0002-6863-4187
local : 042gmmd19
local : 0000-0003-4221-4050
local : 042gmmd19
local : 0000-0002-6863-4187
NESP MaC Project 2.6 - Mapping critical Australian sea lion habitat to assess ecological value and risks to population recovery, 2022-2024 (SARDI)
doi :
10.71676/05f6fdfe
Identifiers
- DOI : 10.25959/MBR6-F262
- global : 84cb1709-a669-4f2c-b97b-5eceb7929349
- Local : ala.org.au/dr31514
