Full Record - Annual measurements of mass of chinstrap penguins taken on arrival to Signy Island at onset of breeding season, from 1996 to 2020.

Annual measurements of mass of chinstrap penguins taken on arrival to Signy Island at onset of breeding season, from 1996 to 2020.

GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01569

Abstract:
This datasets captures the body mass, bill length and bill depth of adult chinstrap penguins immediately after their arrival to Signy Island at the start of the annual breeding from 1996 to 2020. Penguins arriving at the beach were measured for bill length, depth, and body mass before being released where they were captured. These measurements were made in mid/late November, as chinstrap penguins arrive for the austral summer. This monitoring contributes to the CCAMLR (Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) and is part of the annual seabird Long Term Monitoring carried out by the British Antarctic Survey at Signy Island.

Ecosystems component of BAS Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by NERC.

Citation:
Dunn, M., Adlard, S., Lynnes, A., Briggs, D., Fox, D., & Morley, T. (2022). Annual measurements of mass of chinstrap penguins taken on arrival to Signy Island at onset of breeding season, from 1996 to 2020. (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/d784af69-c92b-444c-a12e-ee0361802cb1

Access Data

License

Access:	There are no access constraints.
Use:	This data is governed by the NERC data policy http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/sites/data/policy/ and supplied under Open Government Licence v.3 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

Authors

Name	UK Polar Data Centre
Role(s)	Metadata Author
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Dr Michael J Dunn
Role(s)	Investigator, Technical Contact
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Dr Stacey Adlard
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Amanda Lynnes
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators

Name	Dirk Briggs
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	British Antarctic Survey

Name	Derren Fox
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Name	Tim Morley
Role(s)	Investigator
Organisation	University of Aberdeen

Basic Information

Creation Date:	2021-10-05
Dataset Progress:	Planned
Dataset Language:	English
ISO Topic Categories:	Biota
Parameters:	Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Consumption Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Food-web Dynamics Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Indicator Species Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Survival Biosphere > Zoology

Additional Information

Reference:
Quality:	Accuracy within 50-100 g Sessions are ideally repeated every 4-5 days - the number of sessions vary between years depending on the time it takes for all penguins and researchers to arrive. Years with no data indicate personnel had not arrived to Signy in time to carry out this activity.
Lineage/Methodology:	The mass of individual breeding chinstrap penguins are measured annually on first return to their colonies at Signy Island in November following CCAMLR (CEMP) Standard Method A1A. A random sample of adult penguins are captured on the beach as they leave the sea. Any birds already occupying territories are not sampled. Each bird is weighed to the nearest 50g. The sex of each bird is determined using bill length and depth and applying appropriate discriminate function analyses. Ideally, counts are made every fourth or fifth day, starting with the first available five day period after adults are first observed in the chinstrap chronology colony (C69 and later C66, see CCAMLR (CEMP) Standard Method A9). The weighing procedure continues until either 4 weighing sessions have been carried out or chronology colony counts indicate most/all penguins have arrived. Arriving penguins are captured when travelling on patches of snow from the beach to the colony or when resting on the beach, suggesting they are newly arrived. They are then firmly but gently put into a secure weighing jacket where bill length and depth measurements are taken before being weighed using a spring balance. Once measured, each bird is marked with non-permanent, animal-friendly stock marker on their chest to avoid recapture, and released. Handling time should not exceed 1 minute.

Extent

Temporal Coverage:
Start Date	1996-11-05
End Date	2017-11-20

Spatial Coverage:
Latitude
Southernmost	-60.72935
Northernmost	-60.72935
Longitude
Westernmost	-45.58417
Easternmost	-45.58417
Altitude
Min Altitude	N/A
Max Altitude	N/A
Depth
Min Depth	N/A
Max Depth	N/A

Location:
Location	South Orkney Islands
Detailed Location	Gourley Peninsula, Signy Island

Instrumentation

Sensor(s):	SPRING BALANCE > SPRING BALANCE
Data Collection:	Instruments: - weighing bag - hand-net - 10kg spring balance - callipers - non-permanent, animal-safe stock marker

Discovery Metadata System