Discovery Metadata System

Activity (saltwater immersion) data from black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) breeding at Bird Island, 2002-2022


GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/02239

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Summary

Abstract:
This dataset contains activity (immersion) data collected using archival geolocator-immersion loggers retrieved from 211 black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) breeding on Bird Island, South Georgia. All birds were known breeders in the year of tracking. The loggers tested for immersion every three seconds and recorded either (a) the number of positive (wet) samples in a 10-minute bin ("binned"), or (b) the time of each change of state from wet to dry or vice versa that lasted six seconds or more ("high_res"). All files are in .csv format.

This work was funded as part of the Bird Island Long-term Monitoring Programme at BAS.

Keywords:
Bird Island, Thalassarche melanophris, activity, black-browed albatross, immersion

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Citation

Phillips, R.A., Wakefield, E.D., & Thorne, L. (2026). Activity (saltwater immersion) data from black-browed albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) breeding at Bird Island, 2002-2022 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/249ce261-284c-4e26-bcab-1a57cee7de5e

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Constraints

Access Constraints:  This dataset is under embargo until the publication of the relevant manuscript.
Use Constraints: This data is governed by the NERC data policy http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/sites/data/policy/ and supplied under Open Government Licence v.3 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/.

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Basic Information

Creation Date: 2026-07-09
Dataset Progress: Complete
Dataset Language: English
ISO Topic Categories:  
  • Biota
Parameters:
  • Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Feeding Habitat
  • Biosphere > Zoology
Personnel:
Name UK Polar Data Centre
Role(s) Metadata Author
Organisation British Antarctic Survey
   
Name Prof Richard A Phillips
Role(s) Investigator, Technical Contact
Organisation British Antarctic Survey
   
Name Ewan D Wakefield
Role(s) Investigator
Organisation British Antarctic Survey
   
Name Prof Lesley Thorne
Role(s) Investigator
Organisation Stony Brook University
   
Parent Dataset: N/A

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Additional Information

Reference: These data were used in the following manuscript:
Gillies, N., Phillips, R. A., Weimerskirch, H., Potts, J. R., Réale, D., Wilson, A. J., Angelier, F., Barbraud, C., Bennison, A., Delord, K., Lemesle, P., Peroteau, S., Wood, A. G., Xavier, J. C., Patrick, S. C. (2026) Contrasting associations between parental coordination and breeding success in albatrosses across differing environmental contexts. (in prep.)

For deployment and other details, see previous papers that included part or all of these data as follows:
Darby, J., Phillips, R.A., Weimerskirch, H., Xavier, J.C., Pereira, J.M., Wakefield, E.D. and Patrick, S. (2024) Strong winds reduce foraging success in albatrosses. Current Biology 34, P5615-5621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.10.018

O'Neil, E.K., Frankish, C.K. and Phillips, R.A. (2023) Rafting behaviour of albatrosses and petrels at South Georgia. Polar Biology 46, 597-610. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-023-03146-4

Conners, M., Théo, M., Heywood, E., Orben, R.A., Phillips, R.A., Vyssotski, A., Shaffer, S. and Thorne, L.H. (2021) Hidden Markov models reveal major movement modes in accelerometer and magnetometer data from four albatross species. Movement Ecology 9, 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-021-00243-z

Bentley, L.K., Kato, A., Ropert-Coudert, Y., Manica, A. and Phillips, R.A. (2021) Diving behaviour of albatrosses: implications for foraging ecology and bycatch susceptibility. Marine Biology 168, 36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03841-y


Frankish, C.K., Manica, A. and Phillips, R.A. (2020) Effects of age on foraging behavior in two closely related albatross species. Movement Ecology 8, 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-020-0194-0

Johnson, L.R., Boersch-Supan, P.H., Phillips, R.A. and Ryan, S.J. (2017) Changing measurements or changing movements? Sampling scale and movement model identifiability across multiple generations of biologging technology. Ecology and Evolution 7, 9257-9266. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3461

Wakefield, E.D., Phillips, R.A. and Belchier, M. (2012) Foraging black-browed albatrosses target waters overlaying moraine banks - a consequence of upward benthic-pelagic coupling? Antarctic Science 24, 269-280. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102012000132

Wakefield, E.D., Phillips, R.A., Matthiopoulos, J., Fukuda, A., Higuchi, H., Marshall, G.J. and Trathan, P.N. (2009). Wind field and sex constrain flight speeds of central-place foraging albatrosses. Ecological Monographs 79, 663-679. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-2111.1

Phalan, B, Phillips, R.A., Silk, J.R.D., Afanasyev, V., Fukuda, A., Fox, J., Catry, P., Higuchi, H. and Croxall, J.P. (2007) Foraging behaviour of four albatross species by night and day. Marine Ecology Progress Series 340, 271-286. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps340271


Scripts used to process the data for use in this manuscript can be found on Zenodo:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19090542
Quality: Data categorised as 'suspect' when originally decompressed indicate 48 h bins in which there were fewer or more readings than expected. These have been filtered out of the dataset.
Lineage/Methodology: Data were collected during the breeding period between austral summers 2002/03 and 2022/23. All tracked birds were part of long-term studies and were fitted with a metal ring and a plastic ring with a unique alphanumeric code for individual identification.

Birds were equipped with combined geolocator-immersion (global location sensor; GLS) GLS loggers (British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK or Migrate Technology Ltd, Cambridge UK; <3.5g, <0.15% body mass). The loggers tested for immersion every three seconds and recorded either (a) the number of positive (wet) samples in a 10-minute bin ("binned"), or (b) the time of each change of state from wet to dry or vice versa that lasted six seconds or more ("high_res").

Scripts used to process the data for use in this manuscript can be found on Zenodo:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19090542

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Locality

Temporal Coverage:
Start Date 2002-01-18
End Date 2022-12-26
   
Spatial Coverage:
Latitude  
Southernmost -54.0115
Northernmost -54.0115
Longitude  
Westernmost -38.05
Easternmost -38.05
Altitude  
Min Altitude N/A
Max Altitude N/A
Depth  
Min Depth N/A
Max Depth N/A
   
Data Resolution:
Latitude Resolution N/A
Longitude Resolution   N/A
Horizontal Resolution Range N/A
Vertical Resolution N/A
Vertical Resolution Range N/A
Temporal Resolution Loggers tested every 3 seconds
Temporal Resolution Range N/A
   
Location:
Location South Georgia Island
Detailed Location   Bird Island

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Instrumentation

Data Collection: GLS loggers:
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK, or Migrate Technology Ltd, Cambridge UK; <3.5g, <0.15% body mass.

Activity data were combined into a single .csv file using R, version 4.3.1 (2023-06-16 ucrt).

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Storage

Distribution:
Distribution Media Online Internet (HTTP)
Distribution Size 232MB
Distribution Format  ASCII
Fees N/A
   
Data Storage: The dataset consists of 1x .csv file:
bi_bbal_gls_2002-2022.csv [232MB]

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