Abstract:
This dataset comprises Platform Terminal Transmitter (PTT) data for chinstrap penguins at Signy, Laurie and Monroe Islands, part of the South Orkney Islands, between December and February 2000-2016 (austral summer). The tracking data encompasses the breeding and post-breeding migratory dispersal of chinstrap penguins. The data includes coordinates for satellite uplinks for each tag and respective trip, along with error values for each satellite uplink. Metadata includes additional information about nesting and morphology, when available.
PTT tags were deployed by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) personnel supported by Natural Environment Research Council (UK) core funding, WWF Grant (GB095701), Darwin Plus grant DPLUS054 and CCAMLR special fund.
Keywords:
PTT, Pygoscelid antarcticus, South Orkney Islands, chinstrap penguins, telemetry, tracking
Trathan, P.N., Warwick-Evans, V., Lynnes, A., Brown, S., Croxall, J., Morgan, A., Reid, K., & Smith, D. (2025). Argos Platform Transmitting Terminal (PTT) tracking of chinstrap penguins at the South Orkney Islands, from 2000-2016 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/30c1454c-d733-4a0a-a27b-2435e0922951
| Access Constraints: | There are no access constraints. |
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| Use Constraints: | 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/. |
| Creation Date: | 2025-04-02 |
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| Dataset Progress: | Planned |
| Dataset Language: | English |
| ISO Topic Categories: |
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| Parameters: |
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| Personnel: | |
| Name | UK Polar Data Centre |
| Role(s) | Metadata Author |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Philip N Trathan |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Dr Victoria Warwick-Evans |
| Role(s) | Investigator, Technical Contact |
| Organisation | British Antarctic Survey |
| Name | Amanda Lynnes |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Organisation | International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators |
| Name | Steve Brown |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Name | Dr John P Croxall |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Name | Ash Morgan |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Name | Dr Keith Reid |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Name | Duncan Smith |
| Role(s) | Investigator |
| Parent Dataset: | N/A |
| Reference: | Dias, M. P., Carneiro, A. P., Warwick-Evans, V., Harris, C., Lorenz, K., Lascelles, B., ... & Trathan, P. N. (2018). Identification of marine important bird and biodiversity areas for penguins around the south shetland islands and south orkney islands. Ecology and Evolution, 8(21), 10520-10529. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4519 Dunn, M.J., Silk, J.R.D. & Trathan, P.N. Post-breeding dispersal of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) nesting at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. Polar Biol 34, 205-214 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0870-4 Lynnes, .A., Reid, .K., Croxall, .J. et al. Conflict or co-existence? Foraging distribution and competition for prey between Adélie and chinstrap penguins. Marine Biology 141, 1165-1174 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-002-0899-1 Phillips, J.A., Fayet, A.L., Guilford, T. et al. Foraging conditions for breeding penguins improve with distance from colony and progression of the breeding season at the South Orkney Islands. Mov Ecol 9, 22 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-021-00261-x Warwick-Evans, V., Downie, R., Santos, M. et al. Habitat preferences of Adelie Pygoscelis adeliae and Chinstrap Penguins Pygoscelis antarctica during pre-moult in the Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean). Polar Biol 42, 703?714 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02465-9 Warwick-Evans, V., Ratcliffe, N., Lowther, A., Manco, F., Ireland, L., Clewlow, H. L., ... & Trathan, P. N. (2018). Using habitat models for chinstrap penguins pygoscelis antarctica to advise krill fisheries management during the penguin breeding season. Diversity and Distributions, 24(12), 1756-1771. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12817 |
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| Quality: | Satellite uplinks are given error values as the loc_class and loc_ind, which have an associated readme file further describing their values. The loc_class field indicates an error value for the location which is determined by the number of satellites the tag connected to. The loc_ind field indicates the IQ (quality indicator), which gives information on the transmitter in terms of X and Y. PTT location data were obtained from the ARGOS system (www.argossystem.org). Deployment data is filtered to include uplinks within trip duration provided in the metadata. When trip start and end timestamps were not provided, the first and last uplink for that deployment were used. |
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| Lineage: | Argos Platform Terminal Transmitters (PTT) devices were fitted to 63 chinstrap penguins between December and February 2000-2016. Each PTT was fitted to the lower medial portion of the back of each penguin, using Tesa tape and a two-part epoxy resin to secure the device to their feathers, ensuring the position of the device did not hinder the bird's movement, or access to their preen gland. Handling did not exceed 10min. Each bird was restrained using a net or noose pole, according to existing BAS procedure. Device specifications for each deployment year are specified below. Additional information where known is also provided. 2000-2003: Deployment: 42 birds fitted with devices between January and February. Device: SirTrack ST-10 (115x44x15 mm, 94g) or SirTrack ST-18 (115x44x15 mm, 97g). PTT tags had a minimum transmission interval of 45s seconds. 2014-2016: Deployment: 21 birds fitted with devices between December and February. Device: KiwiSat 101 transmitters (125x43x20 mm,107 g) or KiwiSat ST-10 transmitters (135x32x18 mm, 107g). Some devices were fitted with a saltwater switch that reduced the transmission rate when they were out of the water, either on land or on ice. The reduced transmission rate was intended to conserve battery power. |
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| Temporal Coverage: | |
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| Start Date | 2000-01-13 |
| End Date | 2001-02-16 |
| Start Date | 2001-02-16 |
| End Date | 2003-02-06 |
| Start Date | 2015-02-14 |
| End Date | 2015-04-07 |
| Start Date | 2015-12-24 |
| End Date | 2016-03-10 |
| Spatial Coverage: | |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -77.347 |
| Northernmost | -59.084 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -170.559 |
| Easternmost | 70.189 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Location: | |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Signy Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Monroe Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Powell Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Location | Antarctica |
| Detailed Location | Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands |
| Distribution: | |
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| Distribution Media | N/A |
| Distribution Size | 2.1 KB |
| Distribution Format | N/A |
| Fees | N/A |
| Data Storage: | 1x .csv metadata file 1x .csv data file 1x .txt readme file |