Australian marine waters and the Southern Ocean are the primary focus of this aggregated dataset, which collates seabird sightings and animal-borne tracking data from 1939 to the present. The product unifies visual surveys from research vessels, historical ship logs, and telemetry data from programs like IMOS Animal Tracking, standardized to Darwin Core. It targets seabird orders like Procellariiformes and Charadriiformes, with records extending across the Australasian, Indo-Pacific, and sub-Antarctic regions.
Use Cases
- Modeling species distribution based on harmonized vessel-based sightings and environmental context.
- Analyzing migration routes and foraging ranges based on light-level geolocator and satellite/GPS tracking data.
- Conducting temporal trend analysis of seabird populations based on historical records extending to the 1970s and earlier.
- Performing spatial analysis within defined marine regions using the applied H3 spatial index and Australian Marine Region Tags.
Strengths
- Aggregates multiple data sources including visual surveys, historical logs, and animal tracking into a single resource.
- Temporal coverage extends from 1939 to the present, with historical data digitized from the 1970s and earlier.
- Data is standardized to Darwin Core with taxonomic alignment to the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).
- Includes spatial normalization with an H3 index and tags for Australian Marine Regions to enable spatial filtering.
Limitations
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the contributing vessel surveys and tracking programs.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network, collating CSIRO-hosted OBIS datasets and IMOS programs.
- Collection Method
- Collation and standardization of platform-based visual surveys, voyage watch observations, archival ship logs, and animal-borne tracking data.
- Time Range
- 1939 - ongoing
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-11 01:12:41.651216; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Primarily Australian marine waters and the Southern Ocean, with additional records from Australasian, Indo-Pacific, and sub-Antarctic regions.