Australia’s east coast humpback whales: satellite tag derived movements on breeding grounds, feeding grounds and along the northern and southern migration

Satellite tags were deployed on 48 east Australian humpback whales (breeding stock E1) in 2008, 2009 and 2010 on their southward migration, northward migration and feeding grounds in order to identify and describe migratory pathways, feeding grounds and possible calving areas. At the time, these movements were not well understood and calving grounds not clearly identified. To the best of our knowledge, this dataset details all long-term tag deployments that have occurred to date on breeding stock E1. 
Satellite tags were deployed on whales in the following locations:
•   Eden, southern NSW (Australia), October 2008: whales were tagged off Eden during their southern migration.
•   Evans Head, northern NSW (Australia), June and July 2009: whales were tagged off Evans Head during their northern migration.
•   East Antarctica, February 2010: whales were tagged on their feeding grounds within IWC Management Area V.
•   Sunshine Coast, QLD (Australia), October 2010: whales were tagged off the Sunshine Coast during their southern migration.
The various files in the download are:
Argos locations generated by tagging of East Australian (breeding stock E1) humpback whale
This file contains all Argos locations generated by satellite tags deployed on humpback whales. Deployment details can be found separately (dataset title: 'Summary of satellite tag deployments on breeding stock E1 humpback whales'). Locations were calculated by Argos using a least-squares analysis. Columns are: Argos PTT: The unique satellite tag identification number. GMT: The date and time (dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm) of each Argos location in UTC. Argos location class: The location class retrieved from Argos, Argos diagnostic data. Classes are based on the type of location (Argos Doppler Shift) and the number of messages received during the satellite pass. Location classes in order of decreasing accuracy are 3, 2, 1, 0, A, B and Z (definition from Argos User's Manual V1.6.6, 2016). Longitude: The longitude of the Argos location estimate. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system. Latitude: The latitude of the Argos location estimate. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system.
Speed-distance-angle filter applied to Argos locations generated by tagging of East Australian (breeding stock E1) humpback whale.
This file contains all Argos locations generated by satellite tags deployed on humpback whales. Deployment details can be found separately (dataset title: 'Summary of satellite tag deployments on breeding stock E1 humpback whales'). Locations were calculated by Argos using a least-squares analysis. Additionally, this file contains a column detailing the outcome of the application of the sdafilter - an algorithm based on swimming speed, distance between successive locations, and turning angles to remove unlikely position estimates (speed of 10 ms , spike angles of 15° and 25°, spike lengths of 2500m and 5000m; Freitas et al. 2008). Freitas C, Lydersen C, Fedak M, Kovacs K (2008) A simple new algorithm for filtering marine mammal Argos locations. Marine Mammal Science 24 (2): 315‑325. Columns are: Argos PTT: The unique satellite tag identification number. GMT: The date and time (dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm) of each Argos location in UTC. Argos location class: The location class retrieved from Argos, Argos diagnostic data. Classes are based on the type of location (Argos Doppler Shift) and the number of messages received during the satellite pass. Location classes in order of decreasing accuracy are 3, 2, 1, 0, A, B and Z (definition from Argos User's Manual V1.6.6, 2016). Longitude: The longitude of the Argos location estimate. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system. Latitude: The latitude of the Argos location estimate. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system. Argosfilter outcome: The result of the Argos sdafilter - "removed" (location removed by the filter), "not" (location not removed) and "end_location" (location at the end of the track where the algorithm could not be applied).
State-space model location estimates of satellite tagged East Australian (breeding stock E1) humpback whales.
Using the raw Argos tracking data set (Dataset name: Argos locations generated by tagging of East Australian (breeding stock E1) humpback whale), we accounted for the spatial error associated with Argos locations by fitting a correlated random walk state-space model to generate a location estimate at each observed location time. Within this state-space model, we applied the sdafilter to remove unlikely position estimates (speed of 10 ms, spike angles of 15° and 25°, spike lengths of 2500m and 5000m). See: Jonsen ID, Grecian WJ, Phillips L, Carroll G, McMahon C, Harcourt RG, Hindell MA, Patterson TA (2023) aniMotum, an R package for animal movement data: Rapid quality control, behavioural estimation and simulation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 14(3): 806‑816. This dataset contains the state-space modelled location estimates of tagged east Australian humpback whales. Associated tag deployment details can be found separately (dataset title: 'Summary of satellite tag deployments on breeding stock E1 humpback whales'). The columns are: Argos PTT: The unique satellite tag identification number. GMT: The date and time (dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm) of each state-space model location estimate in UTC. Longitude: The longitude of the state-space model location estimate. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system. Latitude: The latitude of the state-space model location estimate. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system.
Summary of satellite tag deployments on breeding stock E1 humpback whales
A summary of satellite tag deployments on breeding stock E1 humpback whales. Argos PTT = the unique tag identification number; Deploy year = year of deployment; Deploy date = date of deployment; End date = date of final transmitted location; Tracking duration = duration of tag deployment from tag deployment date to last location date; Deploy location = broad geographic location where satellite tag was deployed; Deploy latitude = tag deployment latitude; Deploy longitude = tag deployment longitude; Stage of annual cycle upon deployment = migration direction or feeding grounds; Sex = determined genetically where a biopsy sample was collection; Maturity = an estimate of maturity relative to body size and behaviour; Initial activity = whale behaviour at tagging; Number of locations = the number of Argos locations transmitted; Tag programming = duty cycle applied to tag on and off time as a strategy to extend battery life; Retained for SSM = whether the state space model was applied to the Argos locations generated to account for Argos location error; SSM derived track distance estimate = the length of the satellite track from the state space modelled location estimates in kilometres; Movement captured = the types of movement and behaviour detailed in each satellite track.

Tags: AMD, AMD/AU, ARGOS > ARGOS Data Collection and Position Location System, CEOS, Dart Biopsy Gun, EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS > CETACEANS > BALEEN WHALE, GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR, HUMPBACK WHALE, OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN, SATELLITE TELEMETRY, SATELLITES > SATELLITES, Ships, TYPE C IMPLANTABLE SATELLITE TAGS
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network