1. Australian Antarctic Data Centre
2. Discover and Manage Data
3. Records
4. AAS_2941_blue_whale_Argos_sda_filter_tracks

Description

This csv details the raw Argos locations generated from satellite tags attached to pygmy blue whales in order to describe their migratory movements through Australian waters as described in:
Double MC, Andrews-Goff V, Jenner KCS, Jenner M-N, Laverick SM, et al. (2014) Migratory Movements of Pygmy Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus
brevicauda) between Australia and Indonesia as Revealed by Satellite Telemetry. PLoS ONE 9(4): e93578. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093578

This csv includes the following data fields -
ptt: the unique Argos identifier assigned to each satellite tag
gmt: the date and time in gmt with the format 'yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss'
class: the Argos assigned location class (see paper for details)
latitude
longitude
deploydate: deployment date and time in gmt for each tag with the format 'yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss'
filt: the outcome of the sdafilter (see paper for details) - either "removed" (location removed by the filter), "not" (location not removed) or "end_location" (location at the end of the track where the algorithm could not be applied)

Purpose

This dataset was used to describe the migratory movements of pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) between Australia and Indonesia. The abstract from the resulting manuscript follows:

In Australian waters during the austral summer, pygmy blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) occur predictably in two distinct feeding areas off western and southern Australia. As with other blue whale subspecies, outside the austral summer their distribution and movements are poorly understood. In order to describe the migratory movements of these whales, we present the satellite telemetry derived movements of eleven individuals tagged off western Australia over two years. Whales were tracked from between 8 and 308 days covering an average distance of 3,0096892 km (mean 6 se; range: 832 km–14,101 km) at a rate of 21.9460.74 km per day (0.09 km–455.80 km/day). Whales were tagged during March and April and ultimately migrated northwards post tag deployment with the exception of a single animal which remained in the vicinity of the Perth Canyon/Naturaliste Plateau for its eight day tracking period. The tagged whales travelled relatively near to the Australian coastline (100.061.7 km) until reaching a prominent peninsula in the north-west of the state of Western Australia (North West Cape) after which they travelled offshore (238.0613.9 km). Whales reached the northern terminus of their migration and potential breeding grounds in Indonesian waters by June. One satellite tag relayed intermittent information to describe aspects of the southern migration from Indonesia with the animal departing around September to arrive in the subtropical frontal zone, south of western Australia in December. Throughout their migratory range, these whales are exposed to impacts associated with industry, fishing and vessel traffic. These movements therefore provide a valuable tool to industry when assessing potential interactions with pygmy blue whales and should be considered by conservation managers and regulators when mitigating impacts of development. This is particularly relevant for this species as it continues to recover from past exploitation.

Access

These data are publicly available for download from the provided URL.

Temporal Coverages

• Start date: 2009-04-06 - Stop date: 2012-02-08

Spatial Coverages

Science Keywords

• EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS
• EARTH SCIENCE > CLIMATE INDICATORS > BIOSPHERIC INDICATORS > SPECIES MIGRATION

Use Constraints

This data set conforms to the CCBY Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=AAS_2941_blue_whale_Argos_sda_filter_tracks when using these data.