NESP MaC Project 2.6 - Mapping critical Australian sea lion habitat to assess ecological value and risks to population recovery

Research Project

Researchers: Goldsworthy, Simon (Point of contact, Principal investigator, principalInvestigator) ,  Angelakis, Nathan (collaborator) ,  Angelakis, Nathan (collaborator) ,  Connell, Sean (collaborator) ,  Connell, Sean (collaborator)
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Brief description This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Mapping critical Australian sea lion habitat to assess ecological value and risks to population recovery". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Populations of the endangered Australian sea lion have declined by >60% over the last 40 years. There is a marked uneven distribution in abundance and trends across the species range, suggesting that localised risk profiles from threats vary at small spatial scales. Fine scale differences in habitat use are thought to underpin these differences, yet knowledge about the species dependency on key habitats and their vulnerability to human impacts is limited. This project deployed underwater cameras onto sea lions to identify and map their critical habitats, assess their ecological value and identify risks to populations. Tagging took place at three sea lion colonies adjacent to Commonwealth and state marine reserves off South Australia including Olive and Pearson Islands (Western Eyre Marine Park) and Seal Bay (Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park). Results from this study improve our understanding of threats to sea lion populations and support future conservation actions to recover the species. Outputs • Tracking data from sea lion-deployed tags: location, depth, time, temperature, light, acceleration [dataset] • Timestamped video footage from sea lion-deployed cameras [dataset] • Final project report [written]

Lineage Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Notes Credit
National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub

Notes Credit
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), Australian Government

Notes Credit
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.

Notes Purpose
To identify and map critical habitats of sea lions, and asses their ecological value and risks to their population.

Data time period: 2022-06-01 to 2024-03-31

-37.25981,86 -31.87948,86

-34.569642338423,90