Table of Contents

• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
• Data Files
• Parameters
• Instruments
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information
• Funding

Visual surveys for cetaceans and penguins were conducted during daylight hours on all days when weather conditions allowed on the Antarctic Peninsula, in the austral autumns and winters of 2000-2002.

Objectives: 1) to characterize foraging behavior and movements of individual baleen whales in relation to prey characteristics and physical environment, 2) to relate distribution, abundance and biomass of baleen whales species to same for krill in a large area in a single season, and 3) to monitor interannual variability in whale distribution and abundance in relation to physical environment and prey characteristics.

Standard IWC methodology for multi-disciplinary studies is being used throughout all SO GLOBEC collaborative cruises. This involves experienced cetacean researchers conducting line transect sighting surveys throughout daylight hours in acceptable weather conditions. Data are recorded on a laptop-based tracking program (Wincruz), and photo and video records are also obtained for species identification, group size verification, feeding (and other behavior), ice habitat and individual identification (taken from D.Thiele).
 

Observations were made from the ice tower by a single observer. When conditions permitted, the observer was outside along the cat-walk of the ice tower, otherwise observations were made from the inside. Effort was focused 45° to port and starboard of the bow ahead of the vessel, while also scanning to cover the full 180°ahead of the vessel. In sea ice, the method was adjusted to include searching behind in the vessel's wake as well, in order that cetaceans and seals hidden by ice would be detected more readily. The observer used a combination of eye and binocular searching (7x50 Fujinon). Effort would commence when the following conditions allowed: appropriate daylight, winds less than 20 kts or Beaufort sea state less than 5-6, visibility greater than 1 nm (measured by the distance a minke whale blow could be seen with the naked eye as judged by the observer) and the ship actually steaming. An incidental watch was kept in borderline conditions or in variable visibility, such as fog and snow squalls. Subjective weather data was recorded to keep track of the changing conditions, e.g., Beaufort sea state, cloud cover, glare, ice, sight ability, etc.

Sightings were recorded on a laptop-based Wincruz Antarctic program, which also logged GPS position, course, ship speed, and a suite of other environmental and sightings conditions automatically. Visual observations were made both during the station-transect portion of the trip, as well as during transit. When possible, photographic and/or video documentation was made of each sighting for later use in individual identification, species confirmation, and habitat description.
 

The fundamental objectives of United States Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (U.S. GLOBEC) Program are dependent upon the cooperation of scientists from several disciplines. Physicists, biologists, and chemists must make use of data collected during U.S. GLOBEC field programs to further our understanding of the interplay of physics, biology, and chemistry. Our objectives require quantitative analysis of interdisciplinary data sets and, therefore, data must be exchanged between researchers. To extract the full scientific value, data must be made available to the scientific community on a timely basis.

U.S. GLOBEC (GLOBal ocean ECosystems dynamics) is a research program organized by oceanographers and fisheries scientists to address the question of how global climate change may affect the abundance and production of animals in the sea.

The U.S. GLOBEC Program currently had major research efforts underway in the Georges Bank / Northwest Atlantic Region, and the Northeast Pacific (with components in the California Current and in the Coastal Gulf of Alaska). U.S. GLOBEC was a major contributor to International GLOBEC efforts in the Southern Ocean and Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP).