DOI: 10.5061/dryad.zpc866t65
title: Data from: Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering seas (2011–2017)

description: Continued Arctic warming and sea-ice loss will have important implications
 for the conservation of ringed seals, a highly ice-dependent species. A
 better understanding of their spatial ecology will help characterize
 emerging ecological trends and inform management decisions. We deployed
 satellite transmitters on ringed seals in the summers of 2011, 2014, and
 2016 near Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska to monitor their movements,
 diving, and haul-out behavior. We present analyses of tracking and dive
 data provided by 17 seals that were tracked until at least January of the
 following year. Seals mostly ranged north of Utqiaġvik in the Beaufort and
 Chukchi Seas during summer before moving into the southern Chukchi and
 Bering Seas during winter. In all seasons, ringed seals occupied a
 diversity of habitats and spatial distributions; from near shore and
 localized, to far offshore and wide-ranging in drifting sea-ice.
 Continental shelf waters were occupied for &gt;96% of tracking-days,
 during which repetitive-diving (suggestive of foraging) primarily to the
 seafloor was the most frequent activity. From mid-summer to early-fall, 12
 seals made ~ one-week forays off-shelf to the deep Arctic Basin, most
 reaching the retreating pack-ice, where they spent most of their time
 hauled out. Diel activity patterns suggested greater allocation of
 foraging efforts to midday hours. Haul-out patterns were complementary,
 occurring mostly at night until April-May when midday hours were
 preferred. Ringed seals captured in 2011—concurrent with an unusual
 mortality event (UME) that affected all ice seal species—differed
 morphologically and behaviorally from seals captured in other years.
 Speculations about the physiology of molting and its role in energetics,
 habitat use, and behavior are discussed; along with possible evidence of
 purported ringed seal ecotypes.
description: ******************************************************************************************************************** This data package contains tracking, haul-out, and dive data collected by Argos-compatible tags attached to 17 free-ranging ringed seals that were analyzed and presented in: Von Duyke, A. L., Douglas, D. C., Herreman, J. K., & Crawford, J. A. 2020. Ringed seal (<em>Pusa hispida</em>)  seasonal movements, diving, and haul-out behavior in the Beaufort, Chukchi, and Bering seas (2011-2017). Ecology and Evolution, (accepted April 2020). All tracking tags in this data package (<em>n </em>= 15) were manufactured by Wildlife Computers (Redmond, WA, USA). Data were acquired using the Argos System. Dive and haul-out data were extracted from the sensor fields in the raw Argos DS data using Wildlife Computer's DAP Processor 3.0 (Build 434). Two of the 17 seals carried tags built by the Sea Mammals Research Unit (SMRU), as described in the paper referenced above. Data from the 2 SMRU tags are not in this data package; those data are planned for release at:  https://portal.atn.ioos.us/#metadata/ae1ea78a-2dbf-4294-908c-77580f92d5fd/project ********************************************************************************************************************
description: <pre> Nine ASCII CSV data sets are included in this data package.
 Contents of each file are described below.
 ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_deploymentAttributes.csv These data document which tags were attached to which seals, where and when. Attributes about the seals are also included in this file. .................................................................................................................... Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number deployment_start_UTC         date-time of tag deployment (UTC) deployment_end_UTC           date-time following the last data collections from free-ranging animal deployment_fate              alive: seal thought to be alive when data collections ceased; shed: tag likely detached deployment_end_type          data end: data collections abruptly ended; voltage drop: battery exhaustion likely  tag_manufacturer_name        Wildlife Computers, https://wildlifecomputers.com tag_model                    Wildlife Computers tag model: Splash, Spot, Mk10 (Mk10 is a Splash variant) location_algorithm           Kalman filter processing was used by CLS (aka Argos) for estimating location animal_sex                   M, F animal_life_stage            adult, juvenile (based on size and number of claw bands) animal_mass_kg               animal weight (kg) CLAW_BANDS                   number of claw bands LENGTH_STRAIGHT              head to tail straight line length (cm) LENGTH_CURVED                head to tail length following spine (cm) GIRTH_AX                     body circumference behind front flippers CAPTURE_AREA                 sea ice, open water, or ice water mix  CAPTURE_METHOD               mono-filament net or dip net attachment_type              glue or flipper deploy_on_latitude           deployment location latitude deploy_on_longitude          deployment location longitude deploy_location              deployment location name FLIPPER_ID_TAG               flipper ID tag number FLIPPER_ID_TAG_COLOR         flipper ID tag color FLIPPER_ID_TAG_SIDE          flipper ID tag side UME                          yes/no if seal showed symptomatic signs associated with the 2011 UME AGENCY                       agency, North Slope Borough (NSB)  CREW                         names of field biologists involved in the capture and tag deployment PHOTOS                       were photographs taken during tag deployment ADDITIONAL_NOTES             notes recorded during tag deployment ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_diveBehavior_Splash.csv These data are a chronology of dives and surface events recorded as start and end times. For dive events, the maximum depth attained and a classification of the dive shape (see below) is included.  Not all tags collected these data. The tag deployed on animal PH2014BW01 in 2014 used the salt-water sensor to detect the end of a dive, while the remaining tags (deployed on seals in 2016) used the pressure sensor, which is a superior method because sometimes a seal  can surface without exposing the salt-water switch to air.  .................................................................................................................... animal_id                    unique animal ID ptt                          Argos tag number behaviorType                 type of event: Dive, Surface, or Missing[data] start_time_UTC               start date-time of event (UTC) end_time_UTC                 end date-time of event (UTC) diveDepth_m                  maximum depth attained during dive event (m) diveShape                    shape of dive (S square, V, or U) * * Dive shape definitions from the Wildlife Computers DAP user manual: Tags that perform behavior processing classify dives into one of three simple shapes (square, V, and U) by assuming the bottom of a dive is any depth reading &gt;= 80% of the  maximum reading observed for the dive.  If the total duration for the dive is T and the  total time between the first bottom reading and the last bottom reading is B: Shape                        Bottom Time =============================================== Square                       B &gt; 50% T V                            B &lt;= 20% T U                            20% T &lt; B &lt;= 50% T ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_flagged_filteredLocations.csv These data are a chronology of Argos satellite-tracking locations for each of 17 ringed seals. Seals were tagged with 2 transmitters (SPLASH and SPOT). Locations from both tags were pooled to generate one track for each seal. Locations were calculated by Argos using Kalman Filter processing. Error ellipse data are not available because  all data were acquired using Telnet. Plausibility of each location was assessed with the Douglas Argos Filter algorithm (Douglas et al. 2012, doi: 10.1111/j.2041-210X.2012.00245.x). The algorithm's filtering decision is documented in the "Deleted_Location" variable. Hence, to use only those locations that passed the DAF filtering criteria, all records in which Deleted_Location=1 should be dropped. Details about the "Argos" variables can be found in the online Argos User's manual: www.argos-system.org/manual or in PDF format at doi: 10.5066/P9VYSWEH .................................................................................................................... Animal_Species               ringed seal Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number Location_Timestamp_UTC       location date-time, UTC Latitude                     location latitude (WGS84) Longitude                    location longitude (WGS84) Deleted_Location             filter flag, implausible location=1, accepted location=0 Location_Class               Argos location class Location_NOPC                Argos number of plausibility checks passed Location_IndexQuality        Argos location index (iqx, iqy) Location_AssumedAltitude     Argos assumed altitude (for deriving location only) Pass_Messages_N              Argos number of messages collected during satellite overpass Pass_Messages_gt120dB        Argos number of messages during pass with signal strength &gt;-120 dB Pass_Messages_BestLeveldB    Argos best message signal strength received during overpass ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_percentDry_1hr_bins_Splash.csv ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_percentDry_1hr_bins_Spot.csv These data are a chronology of haul-out behavior binned into 1-hour intervals. The "percent_time_dry" variable is the proportion (%) of the respective hour during which the salt-water switch was detected in a dry (open) status. These  data were transmitted in groups of 24, so successful reception of one transmission conveyed data for 1 full day (UTC). These data are disseminated in 2 files, one for the SPLASH tags that were attached to a seal's back or head, and one for the SPOT tags that were attached to a seal's rear flipper. .................................................................................................................... species                      ringed seal Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number oneHrBin_start_UTC           start date-time of the respective 1-hour interval (UTC) percent_time_dry             percent of the 1-hour during which the salt-water switch was DRY ==================================================================================================================== ******************************************************************************************************************** Tags deployed in 2011, and some in 2014, were provisioned to report dive information that had been summarized over 6-hour intervals prior to transmission. For Wildlife Computer SPLASH and SPOT tags, these binned-data formats are  commonly referred to as 'histograms'. There were 4 types of histogram data collected (below): 1) dive depth, which recorded the number of dives that attained depths within each of 14 depth intervals; 2) dive duration, which recorded the number of dives having durations within each of 14 duration intervals; 3) time-at-depth, which tallied the  proportion (%) of dive-time spent within 14 depth intervals; and 4) time-at-temperature, which tallied the proportion of dive-time spent within 14 temperature bins. ******************************************************************************************************************** ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_diveDepth_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species                      ringed seal Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC   start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) maxDiveDepth_bin             dive depth interval (character string description, meters) number_of_dives              number of dives attaining respective bin-depth, during 6-hour period ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_diveDuration_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species                      ringed seal Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC   start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) diveDuration_bin             dive duration interval (character string description, seconds) number_of_dives              number of dives of respective bin-duration, during 6-hour period ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_timeAtDepth_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species                      ringed seal Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC   start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) timeAtDepth_bin              depth-bin interval (character string description, meters) percent_of_time              percent of 6-hour period spent within respective depth bin ==================================================================================================================== ringedSeal_NSB_Alaska_vonDuyke_n17_timeAtTemperature_histograms.csv .................................................................................................................... species                      ringed seal Animal_ID                    unique animal ID PTT                          Argos tag number histogram_6hrBin_start_UTC   start date-time of the respective 6-hour interval (UTC) timeAtTemperature_bin        temperature-bin (character string, degrees Celsius) percent_of_time              percent of 6-hour period spent within respective temperature bin </pre>