Publication year: 2009-12-15

Publication title: Technical note: animal-borne CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers for real-time oceanographic data collection.

Publication authors: Boehme, L., Lovell, P., Biuw, M., Roquet, F., Nicholson, J., Thorpe, S. E., Meredith, M. P. & Fedak, M.

Publication editors: Ocean Science, 5, 685-695 (2009)

Publication year: 2013-12-28

Publication title: Instrumented elephant seals reveal the seasonality in chlorophyll and light-mixing regime in the iron-fertilized Southern Ocean.

Publication authors: Blain, S., Renaut, S., Xing, X., Claustre, H., and Guinet, C.

Publication editors: Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 2013GL058065 (2013)

Publication year: 2007-08-21

Publication title: Variations in behavior and condition of a Southern Ocean top predator in relation to in situ oceanographic conditions

Publication authors: Biuw, M., etal

Publication editors: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104, 13705-13710 (2007)

Publication year: 2007-11-29

Publication title: Successful foraging zones of southern elephant seals from Kerguelen Islands in relation to oceanographic conditions

Publication authors: Bailleul, F., Charrassin, J.-B., Monestiez, P., Roquet, F., Biuw, M., and Guinet, C.

Publication editors: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B: Biological Sciences, 362, 2169-2181

Publication year: 2013-12-16

Publication title: Estimates of the Southern Ocean General Circulation Improved by Animal-Borne Instruments

Publication authors: Roquet, F. etal

Publication editors: Geophysical Research Letters, 2013GL058304 (2013)

Publication year: 2013-02-24

Publication title: Antarctic Bottom Water production by intense sea-ice formation in the Cape Darnley polynya

Publication authors: Ohshima, K. I., Fukamachi, Y., Williams, G. D., Nihashi, S., Roquet, F., Kitade, Y., Tamura, T., Hirano, D., Herraiz-Borreguero, L., Field, I., Hindell, M., Aoki, S., and Wakatsuchi, M.

Publication editors: Nature Geosci., 6, 235-240 (2013).

Publication year: 2013-01-01

Publication title: Calibration procedures and first dataset of Southern Ocean chlorophyll a profiles collected by elephant seals equipped with a newly developed CTD-fluorescence tags

Publication authors: Guinet, C., etal

Publication editors: Earth System Science Data, 5, 15-29 (2013)

Publication year: 2013-04-01

Publication title: The impact of animal platforms on polar ocean observation.

Publication authors: Fedak, M. A.

Publication editors: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 88-89, 7-13 (2013)

Publication year: 2009-01-01

Publication title: Observations of the Fawn Trough Current over the Kerguelen Plateau from instrumented elephant seals

Publication authors: Roquet, F., Park, Y.-H., Guinet, C., Bailleul, F., and Charrassin, J.-B.

Publication editors: J. Mar. Syst., 78, 377-393 (2009).

Publication year: 2011-06-01

Publication title: Delayed-Mode Calibration of Hydrographic Data Obtained from Animal-Borne Satellite Relay Data Loggers.

Publication authors: Roquet, F., Charrassin, J.-B., Marchand, S., Boehme, L., Fedak, M., Reverdin, G., and Guinet, C.

Publication editors: J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 28, 787-801 (2011).

For around a decade, southern elephant seals (mirounga leonina) have been

used to collect hydrographic (temperature and salinity) profiles in the

Southern Ocean. Conductivity Temperature Depth Satellite Relayed Data Loggers

(CTD-SRDLs) attached to seals' heads in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic locations measure water property

profiles during dives and transmit data using the ARGOS (Advanced Research and Global Observation

Satellite) network (Fedak 2013). CTD-SRDLs are built by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU, University of

St Andrews, UK); they include miniaturised CTD units made by Valeport Ltd. When seals are foraging at sea 2.5

profiles can be obtained daily, on average. Profiles average 500m depth, but can be 2000m in extreme cases

(Boehme et al. 2009, Roquet et al. 2011). Deployment efforts have been very intensive in the Southern Indian Ocean,

with biannual campaigns in the Kerguelen Islands since 2004 and many deployments in Davis and Casey Antarctic

stations (Roquet et al., 2013) more recently. 207 CTD-SRDL tags have been deployed there, giving about 75,000

hydrographic profiles in the Kerguelen Plateau area. About two thirds of the dataset was obtained between 2011 and 2013 as a

consequence of intensive Australian Antarctic station deployments. There is also regular data since 2004 from

French and Franco-Australian Kerguelen Island deployments. Hydrographic data available in this dataset were edited

using an Argo-inspired procedure and then visually screened by the data originator. Each CTD-SRDL dataset was

adjusted using several delayed-mode techniques, including a temperature offset correction and a linear-in-pressure

salinity correction described in Roquet et al. (2011). Adjusted hydrographic data have estimated accuracies of about

+/-0.03oC in temperature and +/-0.05 in salinity. The salinity accuracy depends largely on the distribution of CTD data

for any given CTD-SRDL, which decides the quality of adjustment parameters. Adjustments are best when hydrographic profiles are

available in the region between the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front and the Antarctic divergence (55oS-62oS latitude

range in the Southern Indian Ocean). Several institutes provided funding for the associated programs and the logistics necessary

for the fieldwork. The observatory MEMO (Mammifères Echantillonneurs du Milieu Marin), funded by CNRS institutes (INSU and INEE),

carried out the French contribution to the study. The project received financial and logistical support from CNES (TOSCA program),

the Institut Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV), the Total Foundation and ANR. MEMO is associated with the Coriolis centre, part of the

SOERE consortium CTD02 (Coriolis-temps différé Observations Océaniques, PI: G. Reverdin), which distributes real-time and

delayed-mode products. The Australian contribution came from the Australian Animal Tracking and Monitoring System, an

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) facility. The work was also supported by the Australian Government's Cooperative

Research Centres Programme via the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystem Cooperative Research Centre. The University of Tasmania and

Macquarie University's Animal Ethics Committees approved the animal handling. Both tagging programs are part of the MEOP

(Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole) international consortium - an International Polar Year (IPY) project.

The data were published directly and without modification in the Published Data Library by the British Oceanographic Data Centre.

Instrument(s) used to collect data: CTD.