GPS tracking of Antarctic fur seals at Maiviken, South Georgia, 2009 to 2011
GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02112
Abstract:
GPS (Global Positioning System) tags were used to track 30 Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at Maiviken, South Georgia. Tags were deployed over two austral summer seasons; 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011. GPS tags record location at specified intervals, in this case every few minutes. Data are stored internally on the tag, and so tags must be retrieved to download the data. When combined with TDR (Time-Depth Recorder) data, a detailed picture can be obtained of seal movements. The accompanying tag deployment and retrieval metadata also includes morphological measurements of the seals.
This work was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (UK) core funding to the British Antarctic Survey.
Citation:
Staniland, I., Ashburner, J., & Wilson, A. (2026). GPS tracking of Antarctic fur seals at Maiviken, South Georgia, 2009 to 2011 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/ac9387b5-b043-42b1-97e1-b5c1ea29ac80
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RELATED DATA SET METADATA
License
| Access: | None. |
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| 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/. |
Basic Information
| Creation Date: | 2025-11-06 |
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| Dataset Progress: | Complete |
| Dataset Language: | English |
| ISO Topic Categories: |
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| Parameters: |
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Additional Information
| Lineage/Methodology: | Fieldwork was approved by the British Antarctic Survey Animal Ethics Committee. All data were collected under permit from the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Deployments were made during the Antarctic fur seal breeding season, on healthy female Antarctic fur seals nursing healthy pups, in locations where they could be safely caught. Weight was taken using scales - lifting the seal on the restraint board by two people using a noose pole. The weight of the empty board was then subtracted from the total to give the weight of the seal. Seal length was measured with a tape measure from nose tip to tail tip. Seal girth was taken using tape measure around the thorax of the animal, immediately posterior to the pectoral flippers. Seal span was taken using a tape measure from tip to tip of the pectoral flippers. Tags were attached by attaching a webbing mesh to the seal's fur, between the scapulae. The tags were then attached to the mesh using cable ties. GPS loggers recorded locations every few minutes, with longer intervals if the GPS could not connect to satellites (when the seal was underwater). The number of deployed and retrieved tags per year are as follows: 2009-2010: 16 2010-2011: 13 |
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Extent
| Temporal Coverage: | |
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| Start Date | 2009-12-03 |
| End Date | 2011-02-09 |
| Spatial Coverage: | |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -57.20462 |
| Northernmost | -49.54997 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -42.24662 |
| Easternmost | -29.27023 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Latitude | |
| Southernmost | -54.25 |
| Northernmost | -54.25 |
| Longitude | |
| Westernmost | -36.5 |
| Easternmost | -36.5 |
| Altitude | |
| Min Altitude | N/A |
| Max Altitude | N/A |
| Depth | |
| Min Depth | N/A |
| Max Depth | N/A |
| Location: | |
| Location | South Georgia Island |
| Detailed Location | Maiviken |
Instrumentation
| Data Collection: | Sirtrack Fastloc GPS loggers. |
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Storage
| Distribution: | |
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| Distribution Media | Online Internet (HTTP) |
| Distribution Size | 1.6MB |
| Distribution Format | ASCII |
| Fees | N/A |
| Data Storage: | This dataset consists of: -29x .csv files with data (one per deployment) [1.6MB] -1x .csv file with metadata [10KB] |