The Retrospective Analysis of Antarctic Tracking (Standardised) Data from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

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.