Dive data obtained from telemetry tracking of ten harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and twelve grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), captured in the Baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, and fitted with GPS/GSM tags
Dive data were obtained from telemetry studies performed on ten harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and twelve grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) captured in the Baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, respectively. These seal individuals were fitted with Fastloc GPS/GSM tags, developed by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (University of StAndrews, UK). These tags include a Fastloc™ GPS, a GSM modem (for data transmission), and wet-dry, pressure and temperature sensors, as well a microprocessor (for on-board data processing) (McConnell et al., 2004). A dive event was registered by the tag when the seal reached depths exceeding 1.5 m, and different parameters were thus measured: start date and time, maximum depth, dive duration, post-dive surface duration, the “percent area” (to identify dive shape, cf. TAD index by Fedak et al., 2001), and nine intermediate depth points (each 10% of the dive duration). GPS locations were obtained (around every 20 minutes) when the seal was at the surface at sea, and the location of each dive data was therefore spatially interpolated from these GPS locations. GPS data are already available on http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2030 for harbour seals and on http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/2026 for grey seals seals. Dive data can provide essential information on the behaviour of seals, including foraging, and can therefore be used to identify foraging areas (as already done on part of these data, cf. Planque et al., 2020). For information, the δ13C and δ15N stable isotopes were measured along the whiskers of almost all of these seal individuals, and the data are already available on SEANOE (https://doi.org/10.17882/76528).
Disciplines
Environment
Keywords
Telemetry, Bio-logging, Tracking, Tags, Dives, Diving behaviour, Behaviour, Top predators, Marine mammals, Pinnipeds, Harbour seals, Grey Seals, Eastern English Channel, Baie de Somme, France
Location
55.9504N, 49.2S, 6.8609E, -2.2783W
Devices
Metadata of ‘Dive data’: Data_type = Type of data in row (here dive data) Species = Species of seal captured. Pv = Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina); Hg = Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). Capture_site = Capture site (here Baie de Somme, France) Type_tag = Type of tag fitted on the seal (here GPS/GSM tag) Tag_number = Tag number Seal_ID = ID of individual seal Trip_nb = Number of individual trip at sea. A trip is defined as all time at sea between two haulout events. FID_dive = Unique identifier of dive (by species) ds_date = Date/Hour at the dive start start_lat = Latitude at the dive start (decimal degrees). Dive location interpolated from GPS data registered at the surface. start_lon = Longitude at the dive start (decimal degrees). Dive location interpolated from GPS data registered at the surface. SURF_DUR = Post-dive surface duration (seconds) DIVE_DUR = Dive duration (seconds) MAX_DEP = Maximum depth (meters) PERCENT_AREA = Percentage of the "maximum dive trapezoid" covered by the dive. Allowing the calculation of the Time Allocation at Depth index (TAD; cf. Fedak et al., 2001). D1 = Depth point 1 (meters) at 10% of the dive duration D2 = Depth point 2 (meters) at 20% of the dive duration D3 = Depth point 3 (meters) at 30% of the dive duration D4 = Depth point 4 (meters) at 40% of the dive duration D5 = Depth point 5 (meters) at 50% of the dive duration D6 = Depth point 6 (meters) at 60% of the dive duration D7 = Depth point 7 (meters) at 70% of the dive duration D8 = Depth point 8 (meters) at 80% of the dive duration D9 = Depth point 9 (meters) at 90% of the dive duration
Metadata of ‘Individual characteristics data’: Species = Species of seal captured. Pv = Harbour seal (Phoca vitulina); Hg = Grey seal (Halichoerus grypus). Capture_site = Capture site (here Baie de Somme, France) Date_capture = Date the animal was captured Type_tag = Type of tag fitted on the seal (here GPS/GSM tag) Tag_number = Tag number Seal_ID = ID of individual seal captured Sex = Sex Body_mass = Body mass (kg) Total_length = Total length (cm) Girth = Girth (cm) Date_last_dive = Date of last dive Tracking_dur = Tracking duration (days) N_dives = Number of dives registered SI_whiskers = If δ13C and δ15N stable isotopes were measured along the longest whisker of the individual (data available on SEANOE https://doi.org/10.17882/76528). 1 = yes; 0 = no. Comment = Specific comment concerning the data
Planque Yann, Caurant Florence, Vincent Cécile (2021). Dive data obtained from telemetry tracking of ten harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and twelve grey seals (Halichoerus grypus), captured in the Baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, and fitted with GPS/GSM tags. SEANOE. https://doi.org/10.17882/80016
In addition to properly cite this dataset, it would be appreciated that the following work(s) be cited too, when using this dataset in a publication :
Planque Yann, Huon Mathilde, Caurant Florence, Pinaud David, Vincent Cécile (2020). Comparing the horizontal and vertical approaches used to identify foraging areas of two diving marine predators. Marine Biology, 167 (2), -. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-019-3636-8
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Related documents
Planque Yann, Spitz Jérôme, Authier Matthieu, Guillou Gaël, Vincent Cécile, Caurant Florence (2021). Trophic niche overlap between sympatric harbour seals ( Phoca vitulina ) and grey seals ( Halichoerus grypus ) at the southern limit of their European range (Eastern English Channel). Ecology and Evolution, 11 (15), 10004-10025. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7739
Planque Yann, Huon Mathilde, Caurant Florence, Pinaud David, Vincent Cécile (2020). Comparing the horizontal and vertical approaches used to identify foraging areas of two diving marine predators. Marine Biology, 167 (2), -. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-019-3636-8
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Planque Yann, Vincent Cécile, Guillou Gaël, Lebreton Benoit, Caurant Florence (2020). δ13C and δ15N stable isotope compositions of the whisker of 8 harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and 10 grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) captured in the baie de Somme, France, in 2008 and 2012, for telemetry tracking. SEANOE. https://doi.org/10.17882/76528
