The South Shetland Antarctic fur seal pup census dataset is part of long-term monitoring efforts in the South Shetland Islands archipelago (SSI), based at Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island. These efforts, which include conducting annual synoptic census counts of South Shetland Antarctic fur seals (SSAFS) throughout the region, have been primarily carried out by the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) United States Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program (U.S. AMLR). These census data will continue to be collected by the U.S. AMLR program, and updated yearly.

Recent studies have demonstrated Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) are composed of at least four distinct subpopulations (Bonin et al. 2013, Paijmans et al. 2020), including one breeding throughout the SSI. These SSAFS are the highest latitude population of otariids in the world. As such, this subpopulation faces a unique array of environmental and ecological challenges, harbors a disproportionately large reservoir of genetic diversity for the species, and has experienced catastrophic population decline between 2008 and 2023 (Krause et al. 2023 and references therein). Therefore, ensuring access to accurate and updated population data for SSAFS is particularly important for managers and decision makers. Due to regular absences by foraging females throughout the breeding season, and the irregular haul out patterns of males and subadults, the most informative measure of fur seal population size is to annually count pups (Payne, 1979; Bengtson et al., 1990). This dataset consists of all known total synoptic Antarctic fur seal pup counts (i.e., live and dead pups) from the SSI during the austral summers since 1959. Counts from the subset breeding colonies at Cape Shirreff (CS, reported with standard deviation (±SD) where available) and the San Telmo Islets (STI) are also included. Data were collected by the U.S. AMLR Program, unless otherwise indicated.

Most of these annual census counts were conducted during the optimal biological window (late December and early January) when the vast majority of pups are born, but have not yet been subject to substantial mortality (Krause et al. 2022). The authors are confident that all counts included in this dataset are comparable and representative of South Shetland Antarctic fur seal population trends. However, census dates, or at least best estimates of the census date, are included for all records for any parties wishing to apply correction factors.

The data are published as a standardized Darwin Core Archive, which contains count data for SSAFS pups from the specified locations during the specified seasons. This dataset is published under the license CC0. Please follow the guidelines from the SCAR Data Policy (SCAR, 2023) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via data-biodiversity-aq@naturalsciences.be. Issues with the dataset can be reported at https://github.com/us-amlr/ssafs-pup-census.

This dataset is maintained by the U.S. Antarctic Marine Living Resources Program, funded by NOAA.

Antarctic fur seals (AFS) are an ecologically important predator and a focal indicator species for ecosystem-based Antarctic fisheries management. This species suffered intensive anthropogenic exploitation until the early 1900s, but recolonized most of its former distribution, including the southern-most colony at Cape Shirreff, South Shetland Islands (SSI). The IUCN describes a single, global AFS population of least concern; however, extensive genetic analyses clearly identify four distinct breeding stocks, including one in the SSI. To update the population status of SSI AFS, we analyzed 20 years of field-based data including population counts, body size and condition, natality, recruitment, foraging behaviors, return rates, and pup mortality at the largest SSI colony. Our findings show a precipitous decline in AFS abundance (86% decrease since 2007), likely driven by leopard seal predation (increasing since 2001, p < 0.001) and potentially worsening summer foraging conditions. We estimated that leopard seals consumed an average of 69.3% (range: 50.3–80.9%) of all AFS pups born each year since 2010. AFS foraging-trip durations, an index of their foraging habitat quality, were consistent with decreasing krill and fish availability. Significant improvement in the age-specific over-winter body condition of AFS indicates that observed population declines are driven by processes local to the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The loss of SSI AFS would substantially reduce the genetic diversity of the species, and decrease its resilience to climate change. There is an urgent need to reevaluate the conservation status of Antarctic fur seals, particularly for the rapidly declining SSI population.

This dataset contains in a zipfile the shapefiles for the seabird breeding colonies at Stinker Point (Elephant Island, Maritime Antarctic Peninsula), the elevation of Stinker Point and the Elephant Island contour. All shapefiles are projected in WGS 1984 World Mercator projected coordinate system.

This dataset contains in a zipfile the shapefiles for the seabird breeding colonies at Stinker Point (Elephant Island, Maritime Antarctic Peninsula), the elevation of Stinker Point and the Elephant Island contour. All shapefiles are projected in WGS 1984 World Mercator projected coordinate system.

Lions Rump is a headland on the western side of King George Island in the South Shetland Islands (Subarea 48.1). Research is conducted from the Polish Antarctic Station, Henryk Arctowski, to monitor to following parameters for each species:

Adelie penguins and Gentoo penguins:

Breeding population size

Breeding success

Chick weight at fledging

Chinstrap penguins:

Breeding population size

Breeding success

Purpose of CEMP: In order to provide information of the effects of fishing on dependent species, CCAMLR set up the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) in 1989. The two aims of CEMP are to:

1) Detect and record significant changes in critical components of the marine ecosystem within the Convention Area, to serve as a basis for the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources.

2) Distinguish between changes due to harvesting of commercial species and changes due to environmental variability, both physical and biological.

This project has been concluded. The project involved monitoring of species like seals and penguins and how the progression of global climate change is affecting the ecosystem.

Six species of penguins breed on the Antarctic continent, the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland and South Orkney Islands. Their breeding populations within the Antarctic Peninsula, and the South Orkney and South Shetland Is., and estimates of global populations are given. Typical breeding seasons are also presented, but it must be noted that these will vary inter-annually and intra-annually under the influence of factors such as sea-ice extent and ENSO (interannual) and the location of each breeding colony (southerly localities will be later than northerly localities, as their breeding season is "compressed" within the shorter summer). Their foraging strategies (categorized as near-shore or offshore) and typical durations of foraging trips are also tabulated. As with breeding season events, foraging behaviour will vary intra-seasonally and inter-seasonally (in terms of dive duration, dive depth, foraging location, etc). The distribution of known penguin breeding colonies is circum-continental, with Emperor and Adelie penguins predominant on approximately 75 % of the coast, with two major concentrations in the Ross Sea and in Prydz Bay. The third concentration is in the Antarctic Peninsula region, where some of the largest penguin colonies are present. All six species breed within the area (predominantly Chinstrap Penguins), and the Peninsula region has a greater diversity than the remainder ofthe Antarctic with respect to penguins. The distribution at sea of nonbreeding penguins is less cIear. Non-breeding individuals of all six species move throughout the Southern Ocean, and in many cases, to areas well north of the winter pack-ice zone. However, it is not possible to estimate densities of penguins at sea as there are no estimates of non-breeding penguin populations the extent of their travels.

Glasgow City's crime rate of *** crimes per 10,000 people was the highest of any region of Scotland in 2024/25. The rate for the whole of Scotland was *** per 10,000 people, which appears to be driven by low crime in places such as the Shetland Islands, with almost all Scottish cities reporting higher than average crime rates. In Dundee, the crime rate was *** crimes per 10,000 people, while in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, the crime rate was *** per 10,000 population. Comparisons with the rest of the UK When compared with the rest of the United Kingdom, Scotland has experienced a noticeable decline in its overall crime rate. In 2008/09 for example, Scotland's crime rate was higher than that of England and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland, the other two jurisdictions in the UK. In 2022/23, however, Scotland's crime rate was the lowest in the UK, with the crime rate in England and Wales rising noticeably during the same period. Scotland's homicide rate has also fallen, from being the highest in the UK in 2002/03, to the lowest in 2022/23. What types of crime increased in recent years? The overall number of crimes recorded by the Scottish police since the mid 2010s has remained broadly stable, with ******* offences reported in 2024/25. Specific types of crime have, however, increased in recent times. In 2024/25, for example, there were ****** sexual crimes reported by the police, compared with ***** ten years earlier. As in the rest of the UK, shoplifting has increased rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a peak of ****** offences in the 2024/25 reporting year.

ENGLISH

This project aims to study the investment and acquisition of energy in Antarctic pinnipeds (fin-footed mammals) using a combination of techniques (stomach lavage, fecal sampling, isotope dilution techniques, and the deployment of time depth recorders and satellite-linked time depth recorders). Field work will be done at the South Orkneys Islands, South Shetland Islands, and the Antarctic Peninsula, where there are breeding and/or molting sites of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx), and Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephallus gazella), the four species selected for this study. We will compare the diet composition, foraging strategies, and interspecific food overlap in Antarctic seals occupying different ecological niches. These data will be combined with the data on reproductive biology and the abundance and distribution of the species in the area to achieve an integrated analysis of the potential effects derived from changes in prey abundance. The results at a top predator level obtained from this project will be a part of the Argentinean International Polar Year Program (DRAKE BIOSEAS, ID No:192). DRAKE BIOSEAS involves different scientific disciplines which focus on different components of the trophic web in order to provide an integrated qualitative and quantitative view of the communities and their functioning within the Drake Passage to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula.

SPANISH

En el presente proyecto se propone estudiar el uso y la adquisici�n de nutrientes y energ�a en pinn�pedos ant�rticos, a partir de una combinaci�n de t�cnicas (lavaje estomacal, colecci�n de materia fecal, metodolog�a isot�pica, el uso de registradores de profundidad y de seguidores satelitales). Los trabajos se desarrollar�n en las islas Orcadas del Sur, Shetland del Sur y Pen�nsula Ant�rtica, donde existen asentamientos reproductivos y/o de muda de elefante marino del sur (Mirounga leonina), foca de Weddell (Leptonychotes weddellii), el leopardo marino (Hydrurga leptonyx) y el lobo marino ant�rtico (Arctocephalus gazella), las cuatro especies de pinn�pedos seleccionadas para estos estudios. Se comparar�n las similitudes y diferencias en la dieta y en las estrategias de alimentaci�n de estas especies asi como tambi�n el balance entre el costo y beneficio de las diferentes estrategias empleadas. Dicha informaci�n, se combinar� con aquella proveniente de la biolog�a reproductiva de las especies involucradas, para obtener un an�lisis integrado del impacto de estos predadores en los recursos marinos y los potenciales efectos derivados de cambios en la abundancia de la presa. Los resultados del presente proyecto a nivel de predador tope ser�n parte del Programa Argentino para el A�o Polar Internacional (DRAKE BIOSEAS, ID No:192). Este programa abarca diferentes diciplinas cient�ficas cada una de las cuales se focaliza sobre diferentes componentes de la red tr�fica con el fin de proveer un an�lisis cuantitativo y cualitativo de las comunidades y su funcionamiento dentro del Pasaje de Drake y el Oeste de la Pen�nsula Ant�rtica.

This study aims to investigate the factors regulating population size and colony distribution of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) at three colonies on Ross Island (Cape Royds, Bird and Crozier) and when logistics allowed Beaufort Island through studying the importance of key resources (nesting space and food) and the way they are allocated by behavioural traits (philopatry, immigration and emigrations). A range of techniques was used to collect data. A sub-colony was fenced off and an automated weighbridge and data logger was installed at each colony. Several pairs of breeding birds were implanted with a passively interrogated transponder. When a bird steps on the weighbridge, the data logger would record direction of travel, weight and tag number, if a tag was present. These data were used to determine foraging effort (feeding trip duration and food load size). The productivity and chick condition index was measured in birds in the enclosure and those in an undisturbed colony to check for negative effects of the weighbridge. The stomach contents of Adelie penguin adults and chicks were examined for food prey species over time and between colonies. The diet quality was compared by analysing stable isotope (C and N) ratios in samples collected from dead chicks (protein rich, lipid poor tissue). GIS and satellite images were used to determine the effects of sea ice conditions on colony success (availability of food, breeding success, etc). To measure the effect of sea ice extent and availability of food on breeding success, 50 chicks/week/colony were randomly caught, weighed and flipper length measured to calculate a chick condition index as an indication of food availability during chick rearing stage. These data were comparable between years and colonies. To measure the immigration/emigration and philopatry behaviour role in colony size and distribution, chicks were banded at each colony (up to 1000 chicks/colony/season). In following seasons, searches were made for banded penguins at all colonies to estimate age specific fecundity and survival rates, age of first breeding and to measure immigration/emigration rates for each of the study colonies. The role of natal philopatry in the structure of colony formation was assessed by measuring genetic homogeneity among and within the colonies on Ross Island using mitochondrial DNA analysis. Radio telemetry, satellite tracking and time depth recorders were used to track individual penguins at sea to determine their foraging behaviour. To track post breeding migration, winter migration and over wintering feeding grounds, archival tags that determine geo-location were deployed on birds from Cape Royds and Crozier. Birds were recaptured the following season and data downloaded.