Antarctic Marine Mammal Acoustic Recordings from Sonobuoy Deployments

Approximately 460 hours of underwater acoustic recordings were captured from 251 DIFAR sonobuoy deployments during the RV Investigator voyage IN2021_V01. The Australian Ocean Data Network collected this data as part of the 2021 TEMPO survey between January and March 2021. Recordings focus on marine mammal vocalizations and contribute to krill abundance and predator observation studies.

Use Cases

• Classify marine mammal species presence from acoustic vocalizations within the 460 hours of recordings.
• Analyze spatial distribution of blue whale and sperm whale detections relative to sonobuoy deployment coordinates.
• Correlate acoustic detection events of krill predators with concurrent 3D krill coordinate data from the voyage.
• Study temporal patterns in ocean noise and marine mammal vocalizations across the voyage's two-month duration.

Strengths

• 251 sonobuoy deployments provide a spatially distributed sampling network.
• Approximately 460 hours of continuous acoustic recording enables longitudinal analysis.
• Data explicitly targets detection of multiple whale species and seals, offering a multi-species perspective.

Limitations

• Specific recording formats, sample rates, and audio quality metrics are not detailed in the description.
• The dataset's size and exact file structure are unknown, complicating download and storage planning.
• No information is provided on annotation labels or detection confidence scores for the vocalizations.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, collected via the Marine National Facility RV Investigator.

Collection Method

Underwater acoustic data gathered using Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (DIFAR) sonobuoys deployed at 30 nmi intervals.

Time Range

29 January to 24 March 2021 (AEST).

Freshness

Data was collected in 2021, with a metadata record last updated in 2026.

Geography

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