Weddell Seal Vocalization Measurements from Casey and Davis Stations

1992 and 1997 recordings captured underwater vocalizations of Weddell seals at Casey and Davis stations in Antarctica. The dataset contains measurements from 2966 calls, with approximately 1000 calls analyzed per base and year. It was published in Bioacoustics and compiled by researchers from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre.

Use Cases

• Classify Call Type (e.g., trill, whistle, mew) using measured Frequency, Duration, and Elements features.
• Analyze geographic variation by comparing Frequency and Duration metrics between the Station (Casey vs. Davis) and Location fields.
• Model temporal patterns in vocalization by examining Time and Call Number sequences within recording sessions.
• Investigate call structure complexity by correlating the Elements count with Call Type and Duration.
• Assess recording session characteristics using the Observer and Overlap fields to understand measurement consistency.

Strengths

• Contains 2966 individual call measurements.
• Provides data from two distinct geographic bases (Casey and Davis) across two years (1992, 1997).
• Includes 10 specific attributes per call, such as Frequency, Duration, and Call Type.

Limitations

• Sample size is limited to two Antarctic locations, reducing geographic generalizability.
• Data is temporally stale, with primary recordings from 1992 and 1997 and a minor update in 2010.
• The description notes very few ascending whistles at Casey, indicating potential class imbalance for that call type.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC), published in Bioacoustics 11: 211-222.

Collection Method

Underwater recordings analyzed by two observers who measured call attributes like frequency, duration, and element count.

Time Range

1992, 1997, with supplemental location data from 2010.

Freshness

null

Geography

Antarctica: Casey and Davis stations, with specific island and bay coordinates provided.