South Australia's Sea Lions as Ocean Observers

A project of Fur seal, pelagic shark and seabird tracking in conjunction with the partners and sponsors detailed below.

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South Australia's Sea Lions as Ocean Observers
NameSpeciesLife StageRelease DateLast LocationDays Transmitted
Larry was tracked last yearAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-03-012009-02-11121
SES from West IslandAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-12-102010-06-16202
Leigh from Nic Baudin IslandAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-12-092010-06-11184
Andy from the Seal SlideAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-11-072010-05-09183
Nic was tracked last yearAustralian Sea LionAdult2008-10-092009-05-05264
Big Easy from Seal BayAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-11-082010-01-1853
Johnny from Waldegrave IslandAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-12-072010-07-05210
Imos from Liguanea IslandAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-11-272010-03-09102
Syd from Price IslandAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-11-282010-07-04218
Kapitan Klarry from Seal BayAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-12-302010-06-26178
Muppet from Cape du CouedicAustralian Sea LionAdult2009-11-072010-01-1854

Click on an animal's name for maps and more information.

Introduction

Over the next 3 summers, up to 40 Australian sea lion adult males will carry state-of-the-art satellite transmitters as they traverse some of southern Australia’s most remote and biologically-productive waters.

This project is funded by the Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS - www.imos.org.au) through the Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System (AATAMS http://imos.org.au/aatams.html).

The maritime expeditions of the Australian sea lions are now yielding data that are important to both biologists and oceanographers and refining our understanding of the intimate connections between the mechanics of the Earth’s oceans, and the complex ecosystems which dwell within and upon them.

This is a truly interdisciplinary project, bringing together biologists studying living systems and oceanographers studying marine physics. The maritime expeditions of the Australian sea lions are now yielding data that are important to both biologists and oceanographers and refining our understanding of the intimate connections between the mechanics of the Earth’s oceans, and the complex ecosystems which dwell within and upon them.

This is an extremely cost-effective means of adding to existing global oceanographic data archives. It has the potential to complement existing sampling methods, especially for regions from which data are scarce and where these alternative methods may be difficult or prohibitively expensive to implement. Importanly, this approach provides a mechanism of targeting the collection of physical oceanographic data from regions that are biologically of interest (ie. where high trophic level predators feed), therefore providing greater insights into how physical ocean processes underpin marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries.