Data from: Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering seas (2011–2017)
Cite this dataset
Von Duyke, Andrew; Douglas, David; Herreman, Jason; Crawford, Justin (2021). Data from: Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering seas (2011–2017) [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zpc866t65
Abstract
Continued Arctic warming and sea-ice loss will have important implications for the conservation of ringed seals, a highly ice-dependent species. A better understanding of their spatial ecology will help characterize emerging ecological trends and inform management decisions. We deployed satellite transmitters on ringed seals in the summers of 2011, 2014, and 2016 near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska to monitor their movements, diving, and haul-out behavior. We present analyses of tracking and dive data provided by 17 seals that were tracked until at least January of the following year. Seals mostly ranged north of Utqiaġvik in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas during summer before moving into the southern Chukchi and Bering Seas during winter. In all seasons, ringed seals occupied a diversity of habitats and spatial distributions; from near shore and localized, to far offshore and wide-ranging in drifting sea-ice. Continental shelf waters were occupied for >96% of tracking-days, during which repetitive-diving (suggestive of foraging) primarily to the seafloor was the most frequent activity. From mid-summer to early-fall, 12 seals made ~ one-week forays off-shelf to the deep Arctic Basin, most reaching the retreating pack-ice, where they spent most of their time hauled out. Diel activity patterns suggested greater allocation of foraging efforts to midday hours. Haul-out patterns were complementary, occurring mostly at night until April-May when midday hours were preferred. Ringed seals captured in 2011—concurrent with an unusual mortality event (UME) that affected all ice seal species—differed morphologically and behaviorally from seals captured in other years. Speculations about the physiology of molting and its role in energetics, habitat use, and behavior are discussed; along with possible evidence of purported ringed seal ecotypes.
Methods
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This data package contains tracking, haul-out, and dive data collected by Argos-compatible tags attached to 17 free-ranging ringed seals that were analyzed and presented in:
Von Duyke, A. L., Douglas, D. C., Herreman, J. K., & Crawford, J. A. 2020. Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering seas (2011-2017). Ecology and Evolution, (accepted April 2020).
All tracking tags in this data package (n = 15) were manufactured by Wildlife Computers (Redmond, WA, USA). Data were acquired using the Argos System. Dive and haul-out data were extracted from the sensor fields in the raw Argos DS data using Wildlife Computer's DAP Processor 3.0 (Build 434). Two of the 17 seals carried tags built by the Sea Mammals Research Unit (SMRU), as described in the paper referenced above.
Data from the 2 SMRU tags are not in this data package; those data are planned for release at: https://portal.atn.ioos.us/#metadata/ae1ea78a-2dbf-4294-908c-77580f92d5fd/project
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Usage notes
Nine ASCII CSV data sets are included in this data package. Contents of each file are described below. ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_deploymentAttributes.csv These data document which tags were attached to which seals, where and when. Attributes about the seals are also included in this file. .................................................................................................................... Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number deployment_start_UTC date-time of tag deployment (UTC) deployment_end_UTC date-time following the last data collections from free-ranging animal deployment_fate alive: seal thought to be alive when data collections ceased; shed: tag likely detached deployment_end_type data end: data collections abruptly ended; voltage drop: battery exhaustion likely tag_manufacturer_name Wildlife Computers, https://wildlifecomputers.com tag_model Wildlife Computers tag model: Splash, Spot, Mk10 (Mk10 is a Splash variant) location_algorithm Kalman filter processing was used by CLS (aka Argos) for estimating location animal_sex M, F animal_life_stage adult, juvenile (based on size and number of claw bands) animal_mass_kg animal weight (kg) CLAW_BANDS number of claw bands LENGTH_STRAIGHT head to tail straight line length (cm) LENGTH_CURVED head to tail length following spine (cm) GIRTH_AX body circumference behind front flippers CAPTURE_AREA sea ice, open water, or ice water mix CAPTURE_METHOD mono-filament net or dip net attachment_type glue or flipper deploy_on_latitude deployment location latitude deploy_on_longitude deployment location longitude deploy_location deployment location name FLIPPER_ID_TAG flipper ID tag number FLIPPER_ID_TAG_COLOR flipper ID tag color FLIPPER_ID_TAG_SIDE flipper ID tag side UME yes/no if seal showed symptomatic signs associated with the 2011 UME AGENCY agency, North Slope Borough (NSB) CREW names of field biologists involved in the capture and tag deployment PHOTOS were photographs taken during tag deployment ADDITIONAL_NOTES notes recorded during tag deployment ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_diveBehavior_Splash.csv These data are a chronology of dives and surface events recorded as start and end times. For dive events, the maximum depth attained and a classification of the dive shape (see below) is included. Not all tags collected these data. The tag deployed on animal PH2014BW01 in 2014 used the salt-water sensor to detect the end of a dive, while the remaining tags (deployed on seals in 2016) used the pressure sensor, which is a superior method because sometimes a seal can surface without exposing the salt-water switch to air. .................................................................................................................... animal_id unique animal ID ptt Argos tag number behaviorType type of event: Dive, Surface, or Missing[data] start_time_UTC start date-time of event (UTC) end_time_UTC end date-time of event (UTC) diveDepth_m maximum depth attained during dive event (m) diveShape shape of dive (S square, V, or U) * * Dive shape definitions from the Wildlife Computers DAP user manual: Tags that perform behavior processing classify dives into one of three simple shapes (square, V, and U) by assuming the bottom of a dive is any depth reading >= 80% of the maximum reading observed for the dive. If the total duration for the dive is T and the total time between the first bottom reading and the last bottom reading is B: Shape Bottom Time =============================================== Square B > 50% T V B <= 20% T U 20% T < B <= 50% T ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_flagged_filteredLocations.csv These data are a chronology of Argos satellite-tracking locations for each of 17 ringed seals. Seals were tagged with 2 transmitters (SPLASH and SPOT). Locations from both tags were pooled to generate one track for each seal. Locations were calculated by Argos using Kalman Filter processing. Error ellipse data are not available because all data were acquired using Telnet. Plausibility of each location was assessed with the Douglas Argos Filter algorithm (Douglas et al. 2012, doi: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2012.00245.x). The algorithm's filtering decision is documented in the "Deleted_Location" variable. Hence, to use only those locations that passed the DAF filtering criteria, all records in which Deleted_Location=1 should be dropped. Details about the "Argos" variables can be found in the online Argos User's manual: www.argos-system.org/manual or in PDF format at doi: 10.5066/P9VYSWEH .................................................................................................................... Animal_Species ringed seal Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number Location_Timestamp_UTC location date-time, UTC Latitude location latitude (WGS84) Longitude location longitude (WGS84) Deleted_Location filter flag, implausible location=1, accepted location=0 Location_Class Argos location class Location_NOPC Argos number of plausibility checks passed Location_IndexQuality Argos location index (iqx, iqy) Location_AssumedAltitude Argos assumed altitude (for deriving location only) Pass_Messages_N Argos number of messages collected during satellite overpass Pass_Messages_gt120dB Argos number of messages during pass with signal strength >-120 dB Pass_Messages_BestLeveldB Argos best message signal strength received during overpass ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_percentDry_1hr_bins_Splash.csv ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_percentDry_1hr_bins_Spot.csv These data are a chronology of haul-out behavior binned into 1-hour intervals. The "percent_time_dry" variable is the proportion (%) of the respective hour during which the salt-water switch was detected in a dry (open) status. These data were transmitted in groups of 24, so successful reception of one transmission conveyed data for 1 full day (UTC). These data are disseminated in 2 files, one for the SPLASH tags that were attached to a seal's back or head, and one for the SPOT tags that were attached to a seal's rear flipper. .................................................................................................................... species ringed seal Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number oneHrBin_start_UTC start date-time of the respective 1-hour interval (UTC) percent_time_dry percent of the 1-hour during which the salt-water switch was DRY ==================================================================================================================== ******************************************************************************************************************** Tags deployed in 2011, and some in 2014, were provisioned to report dive information that had been summarized over 6-hour intervals prior to transmission. For Wildlife Computer SPLASH and SPOT tags, these binned-data formats are commonly referred to as 'histograms'. There were 4 types of histogram data collected (below): 1) dive depth, which recorded the number of dives that attained depths within each of 14 depth intervals; 2) dive duration, which recorded the number of dives having durations within each of 14 duration intervals; 3) time-at-depth, which tallied the proportion (%) of dive-time spent within 14 depth intervals; and 4) time-at-temperature, which tallied the proportion of dive-time spent within 14 temperature bins. ******************************************************************************************************************** ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_diveDepth_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species ringed seal Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) maxDiveDepth_bin dive depth interval (character string description, meters) number_of_dives number of dives attaining respective bin-depth, during 6-hour period ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_diveDuration_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species ringed seal Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) diveDuration_bin dive duration interval (character string description, seconds) number_of_dives number of dives of respective bin-duration, during 6-hour period ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_timeAtDepth_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species ringed seal Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) timeAtDepth_bin depth-bin interval (character string description, meters) percent_of_time percent of 6-hour period spent within respective depth bin ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_timeAtTemperature_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species ringed seal Animal_ID unique animal ID PTT Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) timeAtTemperature_bin temperature-bin (character string, degrees Celsius) percent_of_time percent of 6-hour period spent within respective temperature bin
Funding
North Slope Borough / Shell Baseline Studies Program
Office of Naval Research, Award: N00014-16-1-3019
North Slope Borough / Shell Baseline Studies Program