Counts of Antarctic fur seals from the special study beach at Bird Island South Georgia, from 1984 to 2019

Counts of Antarctic fur seal individuals encountered daily at the Special Study Beach (SSB) at Bird Island, South Georgia. The SSB demographic study started in in 1982 and has continued with consistent data collection methods to date. Daily values include total counts of territorial males, new females, all females present in the afternoon, new pups born, and number of dead pups. From 1984 to 1988 only pups and dead pups were recorded. From 1988 to 2001 pup cause of death was also recorded. From 2001 to 2020 females and territorial males were included in the count. Generally territorial males are counted between 1st November and 31st December, although occasional later counts are made. Similarly, females are usually counted between 1st November and the end of pupping, generally around 10th January. Null values in the male and female columns indicate that the animals were not counted on that date. This work was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (UK) core funding to the British Antarctic Survey