Cetacean Observations from the TEMPO Antarctic Voyage, 2021

Cetacean line-transect observations were collected during the RV Investigator research voyage IN2021_V01 from 29 January to 24 March 2021. The survey effort included 3,612 km of formal line-transects, resulting in 621 sightings of approximately 1,609 cetaceans, primarily humpback and fin whales. Data were collected by four trained observers for the Australian Ocean Data Network as part of the TEMPO survey focusing on krill and predator overlap.

Use Cases

• Modeling cetacean distribution patterns based on line-transect survey effort and sightings data.
• Analyzing species abundance and frequency, such as humpback whales being the most observed.
• Studying predator-krill ecosystem relationships based on the voyage's primary krill monitoring objective.
• Assessing observation conditions and effort based on recorded weather and sea state data.

Strengths

• Includes 621 sightings of approximately 1,609 individual cetaceans.
• Survey effort is quantified with 3,612 km of formal line-transects.
• Observations were conducted by four trained observers under standardized conditions (sea state ≤6).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal and geographic bias inherent to a single research voyage.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, likely from the Marine National Facility (MNF) RV Investigator voyage.

Collection Method

Dedicated cetacean observations via line-transect distance sampling from Deck 05 and the bridge, logged in PAMGUARD.

Time Range

29 January to 24 March 2021 (AEST).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 18:04:28.102063; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Voyage from Hobart (TAS) to Hobart, off the Australian Antarctic Territory.