Antarctic Krill Voyage Sonobuoy Recordings and Whale Detections

251 sonobuoy deployments captured approximately 460 hours of underwater acoustic recordings during a 2021 Antarctic research voyage. The data includes marine mammal vocalizations and 3D coordinates of Antarctic krill, collected by the Australian Ocean Data Network's RV Investigator. Recordings span from January 29 to March 24, 2021, on a voyage between Hobart and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

Use Cases

• Classify marine mammal species from DIFAR sonobuoy audio recordings using acoustic feature extraction.
• Model Antarctic krill swarm distribution by correlating 3D coordinate data with acoustic backscatter signals.
• Analyze temporal patterns in blue whale and sperm whale vocalizations across the 55-day voyage time-series.
• Validate visual predator observations by comparing acoustic detections of leopard seals and crabeater seals.

Strengths

• 251 sonobuoy deployments provide a substantial sampling effort.
• Approximately 460 hours of continuous audio recording enables detailed temporal analysis.
• Data includes detections for at least 10 marine mammal species, including multiple whale and seal species.

Limitations

• Specific recording durations per sonobuoy and audio file formats are not detailed.
• The 3D coordinate data for krill is mentioned but its resolution and coverage are unspecified.
• No information on data preprocessing levels or potential gaps in the recording timeline.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Collected using Directional Frequency Analysis and Recording (DIFAR) sonobuoys deployed at 30 nmi intervals.

Time Range

January 29 to March 24, 2021 (AEST).

Freshness

Data was last updated in April 2026, indicating recent maintenance.

Geography

Voyage from Hobart (Tasmania) to the Australian Antarctic Territory and return.