The Southern Ocean is a remote, hostile environment where conducting marine biology is challenging, so we know relatively little about this important region, which is critical as a habitat for breeding and foraging of many marine endotherms. Scientists from around the world have been tracking seals, penguins, petrels, whales and albatrosses for more than two decades to learn how they spend their time at sea. The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking Data (RAATD), was initiated by the SCAR Expert Group on Marine Mammals (EG-BAMM) in 2010. This team has assembled tracking data shared by 38 biologists from 11 different countries to accumulate the largest animal tracking database in the world, containing information from 15 species, containing over 3,400 individual animals and almost 2.5 million at-sea locations. Analysing a dataset of this size brings its own challenges and the team is developing new and innovative statistical approaches to integrate these complex data. When complete RAATD will provide a greater understanding of fundamental ecosystem processes in the Southern Ocean, help predict the future of top predator distribution and help with spatial management planning.

Citation: Ropert-Coudert Y, Van de Putte A P, Bornemann H, Charrassin J, Costa D P, Danis B, Hückstädt L A, Jonsen I D, Lea M, Reisinger R R, Thompson D, Torres L G, Trathan P N, Wotherspoon S, Ainley D G, Alderman R, Andrews-Goff V, Arthur B, Ballard G, Bengtson J, Bester M N, Boehme L, Bost C, Boveng P, Cleeland J, Constantine R, Crawford R J M, Dalla Rosa L, de Bruyn P N, Delord K, Descamps S, Double M, Emmerson L, Fedak M, Friedlander A, Gales N, Goebel M, Goetz K T, Guinet C, Goldsworthy S D, Harcourt R, Hinke J, Jerosch K, Kato A, Kerry K R, Kirkwood R, Kooyma G L, Kovacs K M, Lawton K, Lowther A D, Lydersen C, Lyver P O, Makhado A B, Márquez M E I, McDonald B, McMahon C, Muelbert M, Nachtsheim D, Nicholls K W, Nordøy E S, Olmastroni S, Phillips R A, Pistorius P, Plötz J, Pütz K, Ratcliffe N, Ryan P G, Santos M, Schytte Blix A, Southwell C, Staniland I, Takahashi A, Tarroux A, Trivelpiece W, Wakefield E, Weimerskirch H, Wienecke B, Xavier J C, Raymond B, Hindell M A, Van de Putte A (2024). The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking (Standardised) Data from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. Version 1.5. SCAR - AntOBIS. Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt.biodiversity.aq/resource?r=scar_raatd_trackingdata&v=1.5

Published: October 23, 2024 at 12:30

URL: https://ipt.biodiversity.aq/resource?r=scar_raatd_trackingdata

Yan Ropert-Coudert
Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Station d’Écologie de Chizé-Université de La Rochelle

Anton P. Van de Putte
BEDIC, OD Nature, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences

Horst Bornemann
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung

Jean-Benoît Charrassin
Sorbonne Universités, UPMC University, Paris 06

Daniel P. Costa
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz

Bruno Danis
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Marine Biology Lab

Luis A. Hückstädt
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz

Ian D. Jonsen
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University

Mary-Anne Lea
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania

Ryan R. Reisinger
Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé, Station d’Écologie de Chizé-Université de La Rochelle