Masked Booby Foraging Behavior with GPS and Depth Data from Phillip Island

Data collected over two years during early and late chick-rearing phases tracks the flexible foraging behavior of Masked boobies (Sula dactylatra) from Phillip Island, Australia. The dataset, provided by Parks Australia, combines GPS and depth–acceleration logger data to examine how dive patterns and site fidelity relate to environmental conditions and prey availability. It highlights foraging in distinct local and distant marine areas.

Use Cases

• Modeling prey patch size and distribution based on dive bout parameters described in the study.
• Analyzing foraging site fidelity and prey encounter predictability in relation to environmental conditions like chlorophyll-a concentrations.
• Studying the trade-off between local and distant foraging trips and their implications for chick feeding frequency and adult energy reserves.
• Investigating spatio-temporal changes in marine predator behavior as an indicator of shifting oceanic processes.

Strengths

• Data integrates GPS tracking with depth–acceleration logging, capturing multi-modal behavioral and environmental context.
• Study design includes temporal comparison across two early breeding phases and one late phase over two years.
• Research explicitly links behavioral metrics (dive bout number, distances, site fidelity) to ecological concepts like prey patch size and encounter rates.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The underlying causes of observed changes in foraging conditions were not determined, as noted in the description.

Provenance

Source

Parks Australia, referencing a source publication.

Collection Method

Data gathered using GPS and depth–acceleration data loggers on chick-rearing Masked boobies.

Time Range

Covers two years, including early and late breeding phases.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-15 02:15:23.340597; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Phillip Island (South-west Pacific), Australia, focusing on local shallow shelf and distant deeper water foraging areas.