The data set comprises measurements of contaminant concentrations in the blubber of grey seal pups. Samples were collected on the Isle of May, Firth of Forth, East Scotland between 13 November and 02 December 2002. Sixty suckling pups were selected at random from the island's population, weighed, measured and tagged. Pups were recaptured repeatedly before and after weaning, with weight, length and axillary girth being re-measured each time. These measurements were used to estimate blubber reserves based on mass/length, as detailed in Hall et al. (2009). Linear regression was used to derive estimates of pup mass at weaning. Blubber biopsy samples were collected from 57 of the pups when they were first recaptured after weaning. Samples were stored at -20 °C, then extracted using the Soxhlet method. Lipid content was determined gravimetrically while Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to determine wet weight concentrations of contaminants per lipid proportion of the sample. A linear back calculation based on the known rate of contaminant concentration in blubber post-weaning was used to correct values to the concentration at weaning. The data were collected by researchers from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of St Andrews and the University of Lancaster Department of Environmental Science. The data are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).

The data set comprises measurements of contaminant concentrations in the blubber of harbour seals. Samples were collected from five populations around the UK coast: the Wash, southeast England; the Tay estuary, southeast Scotland; the Moray Firth, northeast Scotland; Orkney, north Scotland; and Islay and Jura, southwest Scotland. The data were collected between 24 January and 26 October 2003. Seals were captured on land, hauled out with the use of hand-held hoop nets, or caught at sea in tangle nets deployed from boats. After capture, the seals were weighed and sedated, and classified as adult or subadult on the basis of mass and body length measurements. Animals greater than 110 cm standard body length (nose–tail) were considered to be adult and those between 100 and 110 cm as subadult. Animals less than 100 cm were excluded from the study. One dead seal was also included in the analysis. Blubber biopsy samples were collected and stored at -20 °C, then extracted using the Soxhlet method. Lipid content was determined gravimetrically while Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to determine wet weight concentrations of contaminants per lipid proportion of the sample. The work focused on polybrominated diphenyl ether (PDBE) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in seal blubber. PBDEs are the main components of brominated flame retardant chemicals, and both these and PCBs are thought to increase seal mortality. The five seal populations were chosen following differential mortality during the 2002 phocine distemper epidemic in order to determine whether contaminant concentrations had influenced mortality rates associated with that disease. The data were collected by researchers from the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) at the University of St Andrews and the University of Lancaster Department of Environmental Science. The data are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC).

This dataset contains a variety of oceanographic and atmospheric measurements including time series of temperature, salinity, current speed and direction and discrete samples of salinity, dissolved oxygen, oxygen isotope and trace gas concentrations of the water column. It also includes atmospheric measurements including temperature, humidity and wind speed and direction. The data were collected in the Amundsen Sea region of the Antarctic between 2012 and 2017. The majority of the data were collected during RRS James Clark Ross cruise JR20140126 from January to March 2014. Moorings were deployed in 2012 and redeployed in 2014, most collected data until 2016. Measurements were taken using a variety of instrumentation, including conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profilers with attached auxiliary sensors, acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), Radiosondes and Microstructure profilers (MVP). Discrete water samples were also taken and analysed for salinity, dissolved oxygen and oxygen isotope concentration and trace gas concentrations. Measurements were also taken by CTD profilers, current meters and ADCPs deployed on moorings and by CTDs deployed on tags on seals. The project was designed to discover how and why warm ocean water gets close to the ice shelf in Antarctica (and in particular the Amundsen Sea) and is part of the wider iSTAR programme. The principal investigator for this project is Professor Karen Heywood, University of East Anglia and the project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council. Data from the project are held at the British Oceanographic Data Centre. BODC do not expect to receive data from the Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) deployed by the project. The originator has identified data quality issues with these datasets and has indicated that they won't be supplied. We expect to receive all other data collected by the project. The Korean Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) collected CTD and Lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiles (LADCP) data in 2012 (cruise ANA02C- report accessible via http://repository.kopri.re.kr/handle/201206/4603) and 2016 (cruise ANA06B- report not yet available).

The Ocean Regulation of Climate by Heat and Carbon Sequestration and Transports (ORCHESTRA) data set comprises hydrographic data, including measurements of temperature, salinity and currents, complemented by bathymetric, meteorological and stable isotope data. The study area was the South Atlantic Ocean and Southern Ocean, including the Weddell and Scotia Seas and Drake Passage. The data were collected by research cruises, beginning March 2016. Shipboard data collection involved the deployment of conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) packages and Lowered Acoustic Doppler Profilers (LADCP) in the study area. Continuous measurements of current velocities (using vessel mounted ADCPs, VMADCPs), bathymetry and surface ocean and meteorological properties were collected throughout each cruise. The ORCHESTRA programme aims to advance the understanding of, and capability to predict, the Southern Ocean's impact on climate change via its uptake and storage of heat and carbon. It represents the first fully unified activity by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) institutes as part of the Long-Term Multi-centre Science (LTMS) along with other UK research institutes, more specifically the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), British Geological Survey (BGS), Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML), Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU), Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) and the Met Office Hadley Centre. The programme was divided into three Work Packages with the following Principal Investigators for each: WP1 (Interaction of the Southern Ocean with the atmosphere), led by Liz Kent from NOC; WP2 (Exchange between the upper ocean mixed layer and the interior), led by Dave Munday from BAS and WP3 (Exchange between the Southern Ocean and the global ocean), led by Yvonne Firing from NOC. The overall programme is led by Andrew Meijers from BAS. The majority of the data will be managed by the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC), with a minority of data sets being submitted to the BAS Polar Data Centre (BAS-PDC) and atmospheric data from MASIN aircrafts submitted to the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA).