Behaviour of Weddell seals during winter recorded by satellite tracking.

This data set contains the results from a study of the behaviour of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelli) at the Vestfold Hills, Prydz Bay, Antarctica. Three satellite transmitters were deployed on tagged female Weddell seals at the Vestfold Hills mid-winter (June) 1999. The transmitters were recovered in December, late in the pupping season. In total, the three transmitters were deployed and active 170 days, 175 days and 180 days. I used the first two classes of data to get fixes with a standard deviation less than 1 km. Most seal holes were more that 1 km apart (see Entry: wed_survey) so at this resolution we can distinguish between haul-out sites. We examine the number and range of locations used by the individual seals. We use all data collectively to look at diurnal and seasonal changes in haul-out bouts. None of the seals were located at sites outside the area of fast ice at the Vestfold Hills, although one seal was sighted on new fast-ice (20 - 40 cm thick). Considering the long bouts in the water, and that we only tracked haul-out locations, the results do not eliminate the possibility that the seals made long trips at sea.The original data are stored by the Australian Antarctic Division in the ARGOS system on the mainframe Alpha. The transmitter numbers are 23453, 7074 and 7075.

本数据集收录了南极洲普里兹湾维斯弗德丘陵区域韦德尔氏海豹（Leptonychotes weddelli）行为研究的相关结果。1999年6月（南极隆冬时节），研究团队在维斯弗德丘陵为已标记的雌性韦德尔氏海豹部署了3台卫星发射器，并于产羔季末期的12月完成了发射器的回收。三台发射器的有效工作时长分别为170天、175天与180天。研究人员使用前两类数据，获取了标准差小于1千米的定位结果。多数海豹冰洞间距超过1千米（详见条目wed_survey），因此在此空间分辨率下可区分不同的上岸位点。本研究分析了个体海豹所使用的定位位点的数量与分布范围，并整合全部数据以探究上岸活动的昼夜与季节变化规律。所有海豹均未在维斯弗德丘陵固定冰区以外的区域被定位到，尽管曾有一只海豹在厚度为20至40厘米的新生固定冰上被目击。考虑到海豹在水中停留的长时间时长，且本研究仅追踪了上岸位点，本研究结果无法排除海豹曾开展远洋长距离移动的可能性。原始数据由澳大利亚南极局（Australian Antarctic Division）通过大型主机Alpha上的ARGOS系统存储，发射器编号分别为23453、7074与7075。