Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e101284 OO) doi: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e101284 open access Data Paper Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Elena B. Eder*, Marcos Zaratet, Mirtha N. Lewis? + Centre for the Study of Marine Systems, Centro Nacional Patagonico (CESIMAR-CENPAT-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina Corresponding author: Elena B. Eder (lebder@gmail.com) Academic editor: Anton P. van de Putte Received: 31 Jan 2023 | Accepted: 18 Apr 2023 | Published: 26 Apr 2023 Citation: Eder EB, Zarate M, Lewis MN (2023) Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e101284. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e101284 Abstract Background The dataset comprises geolocalised records of dive and surface interval durations, light level and temperature of the seawater during the post-resting and post-moulting tracks of 13 immature southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina. \t describes an unpublished open access version of the original data with records of light level and temperature of the water column using the Darwin Core standard (DwC) through ArOBIS, guaranteeing compliance with the FAIR principles, encompassing a wide time scale (2005, 2006 and 2007) and geographic range in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (South West [-58.75, -81.29], North East [-37.60, -28.65]). Seals were simultaneously equipped with affordable light— temperature loggers (LTLs) and satellite tags. The LTLs recorded light level and temperature of the water column at 30-s intervals during dives and light—-time records were applied to estimate dive parameters of diurnal records from 06:00 to 17:00 h, since movements up and down the water column are reflected by changes in light level. For that, © Eder E et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 2 Eder E et al the minimum light level reached at the surface of a dive was determined experimentally with diurnal dive simulations at sea using the LTLs devices before deployment. The dataset also includes variation of light and temperature of records between 17:00 to 06:00 h. Data can be used to identify temperature changes associated with seawater masses as drivers of the distribution of other taxa of interest and variation of light level in the seawater (light attenuation) could be linked to concentrations of phytoplankton assemblages as an index of primary productivity. New information This dataset provides unpublished data of the duration of dives and surface intervals and associated records of light level and temperature variations along the movements throughout the seawater of 13 immature southern elephant seals in the Southern Hemisphere. The location data were generated by satellite tags and the light and temperature data were recorded with light-temperature loggers (LTLs), both devices deployed on individuals simultaneously and uploaded following the Darwin Core standard and compliance with the FAIR principles. Keywords southern elephant seals, Southern Ocean, sea water light-temperature records Introduction Elephant seals belong to the clade of Pinnipeds, a taxonomic group of mammals adapted to marine life that, however, conserve a dependence on the terrestrial environment, amongst other characteristics. During their annual cycle, seals predictably and synchronously alternate brief ashore periods dedicated to breeding, moulting or resting at very high-fidelity sites, with longer periods of exclusively marine feeding (post-breeding, post-moulting or post-resting trips) occupying more than 90% of the annual cycle time (Lewis and Eder 2021). Amongst the characteristics of the southern species (Mirounga leonina) when foraging at sea, is that they continuously dive to depths between 200 and 700 m (up to 2000 m+), for periods of 20 to 30 min (up to 120 min), making regularly 50 to 80 dives per day during this time (Lewis and Eder 2021), while surfacing briefly to replenish their oxygen stores between consecutive long dives (Hindell et al. 2016). Southern elephant seals have a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Hemisphere and they are wide-ranging foragers that undertake long migrations of thousands of kilometres at sea over broad geographic and oceanographic regions, spending significant time in highly productive water masses (fronts, currents, marginal pack ice zones etc) (Campagna et al. 2006, Campagna et al. 2007, Bailleul et al. 2007, Biuw et al. 2010, Mcintyre et al. 2012, Mcintyre et al. 2011, Tosh et al. 2015, Paez-Rosas et al. 2018). Due to these characteristics, these marine mammals can be effective bio-platforms to collect data on marine environmental variables when they are equipped with miniaturised biologging Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern ... 3 devices during their foraging trips at sea (Hindell et al. 2016). In this sense, they can provide valuable data of the water column of broad geographic regions, from continental margins to deep basins, reaching areas where oceanographic campaigns are not often able to attain. The dataset presented in this paper covers locations of 13 immature southern elephant seals during their post-resting and post-moulting feeding trips at sea and provides unpublished data of the duration of dives and surface intervals and associated light level and temperature variations along the movements throughout the seawater recorded by LTLs deployed on the individuals, following the DwC standard and compliance with the FAIR principles (Wilkinson et al. 2016). The study that originated the dataset was aimed to compare the duration diving pattern of juvenile individuals instrumented with LTLs, to assess if diving effort, determined by extended dives and long surface intervals, differed between contrasting foraging locations in terms of associated bathymetry and to hypothesise how these conditions may impact on juvenile foraging success and survival (Eder et al. 2011). Given that the dataset reported environmental data from the seawater covering a wide temporal (2005-2007) and geographic (South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans) scale, the information provided could be valuable for associations with other taxa and concentrations of phytoplankton assemblages as an index of primary productivity (Behrenfeld and Boss 2003), amongst other purposes. Project description Title: Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Personnel: Elena Eder, Marcos Zarate and Mirtha Lewis Funding: Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica PICT 01- 11749 and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas (CONICET) PIP 02462 Resolucion 1123/03, Australian Antarctic Division and National Research Council of Argentina Ph.D. programme (CONICET). The publication of this data paper was supported by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/AN1/AntaBIS) in the Framework of EU-Lifewatch as a contribution the SCAR Antarctic biodiveristy portal (biodiversity.aq). Sampling methods Description: The locations and associated data from the seawater (light level and temperature) during the feeding trips of the southern elephant seals encompassed an area between the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (South West [-58.75, -81.29], North East [-37.60, -26.54]). Fig. 1 Sampling description: LTL devices (Platypus Engineering, Sydney, Australia) were deployed simultaneously with satellite tags (SPOT4/SPOT5; Wildlife Computers, 4 Eder E etal Redmond, Washington) on 13 immature southern elephant seals from the Peninsula Valdés colony, Patagonia, Argentina (42°45’S, 63°38’W). The setting and deployment protocols of instruments and their recovery have been described previously in Campagna et al. (2006), Campagna et al. (2007) and Eder et al. (2011). Data recorded encompass the post-resting and post-moulting feeding trips of individuals during 2005 (n = 4), 2005-2006 (n = 7) and 2007 (n = 2) seasons. Additionally, morphometric data of individuals taken during deployment and retrieval of the instruments and body mass estimates before and after feeding trips, are also provided. Standard length (SL, snout-tail length) and maximum girth (MG) were taken with a measuring tape to the nearest 0.5 cm, in ventral recumbency and body mass (EBM) was estimated using the equation in Bell et al. (1997) (EBM= 53.896 SL1.063 * MG"-697)_ South Atlanctic South Pacific Argentina Buenos Aire cean Ocean .% 4 b ~ ts renin a «Argentine Valdes aa “\ : “ we = ; Basin po Se ~~" Lnved Chubut ba! rye te | * » =) 32% a | om é Argentine Pa Sea 4 7 \ a i QQ & oth, ¥ ‘y % « ; 3 ae : . “e.. a ~ vf we , F’ Figure 1. ES] Study area with the locations of the associated data from the seawater during the feeding trips of the southern elephant seals. Green points represent locations where seawater light level and temperature data were collected. Estimation of dive durations and surface intervals The variation of light registered by the LTLs (records were sampled at an interval of 30-s, expressed as hh/mm/ss), were used to estimate the dive durations and the surface intervals of dives, as vertical movements through the water column are reflected by changes in the light level (from maximum value at the surface = 250 arbitrary units, to total darkness in deep water = 2 arbitrary units). Simulations of dives at sea with the instruments under different conditions (different seasons, total, partial or no cloud cover and different orientations of the light sensor), determined a conservative minimum value of Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern ... 5 saturated light level of 190 units at the sea surface. The details of these simulations to estimate dive duration are described in Eder et al. (2011). According to this, dive durations and surface intervals of individuals were estimated, based on diurnal records between 06:00 and 17:00 h of the LTLs (local time; Eder et al. (2011)). Records from night or long dives during sunrise and sunset (hours of attenuated daylight) from the winter months were excluded for this analysis (Eder et al. 2011), but they were included in the dataset in order to provide the temperature variation. Validation and correction of the temperature data The LTLS measure seawater temperature with a resolution of approximately 0.2°C, over a range of -12 to 31°C. However, some devices showed temperature records from -1.1 to 31.1°C, which may not be appropriate values for the Argentine Sea and the adjacent Oceanic Basin. For this reason, the values of the devices were validated against an autonomous thermometer (Optic StowAway Temp) activated during the diving simulations and a digital thermometer during laboratory tests, to correct the temperature values of the LTLs. Fig. 2 shows the temperature profile recorded by the devices and the autonomous thermometer during the diving simulations detailed in Eder et al. (2011). During these simulations, the recorded temperatures never fell below 10°C and the differences between the records of the LTL and the autonomous thermometer, under different conditions, was 4.4+0.8°C and 4.4 + 2.3°C. Fig. 3 shows the profile of the LTL and the digital thermometer records during exposure to low and high temperatures in the laboratory. In these experiences, the temperature difference was 2.1 + 0.6°C when the exposure was from 0.7 to 12°C, 7.4 + 1.4 when the temperature was 22 to 13.7°C and 6.3 + 1.9 when exposed to 31.06 and 22°C. As can be seen in Figs 2, 3, the LTL temperature records behave differently at low and relatively high values. At temperatures below 6°C, the records tended to underestimate the temperature values, although the difference is somewhat less than at temperatures greater than 6°C, when the records tended to overestimate the values until reaching the upper limit of the range that the device can measure. Given this irregular behaviour of the temperature records of the LTL, the temperature data obtained in the laboratory were used to obtain a general adjustment function to correct the entire range of temperatures registered by the devices (Fig. 4). Fig. 5 shows the temperatures recorded with the digital thermometer and the temperatures of the equipment once the correction was applied. Quality control: All records were validated. The coordinates were validated using the check_onland() function of the obistools package to verify if there are points on land. Although the dataset has only one taxon, match_taxa() was used to determine if the taxonomic name is valid. All scientific names were checked for typos and matched to the species information backbone of Worlds Register of Marine Species (http:// marinespecies.org/) and LSID were assigned to taxon as scientificNamelD. The original date data columns were converted with the OpenRefine tool to ISO 8601 format, which was assigned to the eventDate field of the Dwc standard. To check the consistency of the eventID and parentEventiD fields, the check_eventids() function was used. 6 Eder E etal Temperature °C D AD 4D AD qD A oD AD AO “DO OO -O -O O -O A -O O O Porro” OMS Pro Oro” OSS OO WSS” nv RY RNP NPD DD DRE RT RIND RST BE ADS Temperature °C SHH GHD GOGO HO go 8S Oo Swe Sas RS 8 iS one COPS OP roe cS SS oo PD OT ST BO AT AT AT RO ABE AT NOENGENG Time (Hour:min:sec) —Data logger —-1 ——2 ——~3 ——4 ——5 ——-6 ——7 ——8 Figure 2. EES] The LTLs (1-8) and the autonomous thermometer (data logger) temperature profiles during diving simulations at sea. a) From a boat (two dives), during a cloudy day, at a maximum depth of 35 m. b) From a local wharf (four dives with the devices orientated in the positions described in Eder et al. (2011)), during a clear day, at a maximum depth of 18.5 m. Temperature °C FP PP FFF, FF, FF FF S. fs SF FFF CS eae LPP PPM qo oP a Sh DM OF’ ey ee SOLON ND ee &Y 6 oP" aS ass wwe oe SS Do ea a ae Pd al yp PP 20 5 b Oo Temperature °C Boot OHH HD DGD GD GO GAH GH GD GD HOH GOGH PH HHA GHA HOO RIGS SP FPP HP HoPK Fak os PoP Pa TePaP nh PD HY PE nO" o§ Re) SM ORR UD x2 YP LEO ST HO AI AT GP MP MP oP Pa aa gd Pepa hay Time (Hour:min:sec) —— Digital thermometer 1 2 3 4 o 6 7 8 Figure 3. EES LTLs (1-8) temperature profiles during the gradual rise (a) and decrease (b) in the bath temperature at lab. Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern ... 2 14 ° 12 y = 0,7036x + 1,925 E 10 R? = 0,998 S a a E $ = 25 0 : 10 15 20 (=) LTL Temperature (°C) Figure 4. ETSI Adjusted function to correct the temperatures recorded by the LTL. 14 o 12 e 10 = & a 6 5 4 2 0 Time (Hour:min:sec) —— Digital thermometer —— 1 ——2 ——-3 ——4 ——5 ——6 ——7 ——8 Figure 5. EES] Overlapped temperature profiles of the digital thermometer and the LTLs (1-8) after correction. Geographic coverage Description: The locations during the feeding trips of the southern elephant seals encompassed an area between the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (South West [-58.75, -81.29], North East [-37.60, -28.65]). Most of the records are located within the well-known foraging areas of southern elephant seals from the Peninsula Valdés colony. These include the continental shelf, an area of less than 200 m in depth that extends 8 Eder E et al 300-400 km east from the coast and is characterised by mixed coastal and stratified waters (Campagna et al. 2006), the shelf break, where the Malvinas Current carry cold sub- Antarctic waters north from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the encounter with low- salinity shelf water originates a shelf-break front associated with temperature and salinity gradients and increased primary productivity (McGovern et al. 2022), and the deep Argentine Basin (6000 m), where the warm-salty subtropical waters, carried southwards by the Brazil Current, meet the cold-fresh subpolar waters carried northwards by the Malvinas Current, producing the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence, characterised by increased primary productivity, large temperature gradients and intense mesoscale eddy activity (Campagna et al. 2006, McGovern et al. 2022). Taxonomic coverage Taxa included: Rank Scientific Name Class Mammalia order Carnivora family Phocidae genus Mirounga kingdom Mirounga leonina (Linnaeus, 1758) Temporal coverage Single date: ;. Notes: Data recorded encompass the post-resting feeding trips of four individuals from the 2005 season, the post-moulting feeding trips of seven individuals from the 2005-2006 season and the post-moulting feeding trips of two individuals from the 2007 season (Zarate and Eder 2022). Date ranges (and tracking period in days) are detailed below: MAR3: 2005-07-29/2005-11-14 (108) BK6: 2005-08-02/2005-11-02 (92) S14: 2005-08-08/2005-10-22 (75) SyS2: 2005-08-15/2005-11-11 (88) RONG: 2005-12-07/2006-02-17 (72) LIN3: 2005-12-11/2006-07-11 (216) SUR1: 2005-12-13/2006-02-07 (56) Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern ... 9 RUS2: 2005-12-13/2006-02-23 (72) BUC10: 2005-12-16/2006-05-06 (141) FAR11: 2005-12-17/2006-04-22 (126) PT7: 2005-12-19/2006-04-23 (125) 2LID: 2007-01-04/2007-06-27 (174) 1LID: 2007-01-06/2007-07-29 (204) Usage licence Usage licence: Creative Commons Public Domain Waiver (CC-Zero) Data resources Data package title: Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Resource link: https://Awww.gbif.org/dataset/fa11b646-142c-49ec-915c-8b94b9d4bba3 Alternative identifiers: https:/Mwww.movebank.org/cms/webapp?qwt_fragment=page= studies path=study2706892261 Number of data sets: 2 Data set name: Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Character set: UTF-8 Download URL: https://arobis.cenpat-conicet.gob.ar:8081/resource?r=ses-light- temperature Data format: Darwin core Description: This dataset describes an unpublished open access version of the original data with records of light level and temperature of the water column using the Darwin Core standard (DwC) through ArOBIS, guaranteeing compliance with the FAIR principles. The LTLs recorded light level and temperature of the water column at 30-s intervals during dives and light—-time records were applied to estimate dive parameters of diurnal records from 06:00 to 17:00 h, since movements up and down the water column are reflected by changes in light level. For that, the minimum light level reached at the surface of a dive was determined experimentally with diurnal dive simulations at sea using the LTLs devices before deployment. As variation of temperature in the water column can be associated with the local distribution of other taxa of interest and 10 Eder E et al variation of light level in the water column (light attenuation) could be linked to concentrations of phytoplankton assemblages as an index of primary productivity, the dataset can be of useful interest. This dataset also includes variation of light and temperature of records between 17:00 to 06:00 h. The dataset encompasses a wide time scale (2005, 2006 and 2007) and covers a wide geographic range in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (South West [-58.75, -81.29], North East [-37.60, -28.65)). If you have any questions regarding this dataset, please do not hesitate to contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via eder@cenpat-conicet.gob.ar Column label eventID parentEventID type eventDate eventTime decimalLatitude decimalLongitude minimumDepthinMetres maximumDepthInMetres institutionCode datasetName occurrencelD basisOfRecord occurrenceStatus scientificName scientificNamelD scientificNameAuthorship Column description an identifier for the set of information associated with an Event (something that occurs at a place and time). This may be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to the dataset. An identifier for the broader Event that groups this and potentially other Events. the event type information is provided in this column. the date or interval during which an Event occurred. the time or interval during which an Event occurred. the geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location. Positive values are north of the Equator, negative values are south of it. Legal values lie between -90 and 90, inclusive. the geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location. Positive values are east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it. Legal values lie between -180 and 180, inclusive. minimum depth during event in metres. maximum depth during event in metres. institution code. dataset name. an identifier for the Occurrence/specimen. the specific nature of the data record. a statement about the presence or absence of a Taxon at a Location. scientific name. marinespecies.org taxon number. the authorship information for the scientificName formatted according to the conventions of the applicable nomenclaturalCode. Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern ... 11 sex kingdom phylum class order family genus taxonRank measurementType measurementTypelD measurementValue measurementValuelD measurementUnit measurementUnitID sex. the full scientific name of the kingdom in which the taxon is classified. the full scientific name of the phylum in whch the taxon is classified. the full scientific name of the class in which the taxon is classified. the full scientific name of the order in which the taxon is classified. the full scientific name of the family in which the taxon is classified. the full scientific name of the genus in which the taxon is classified. the taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName. the nature of the measurement, fact, characteristic or assertion. a machine-readable URI or DOI reference describing the (version of the) classification system itself. the value of the measurement, fact, characteristic or assertion. if available, a machine-readable URI describing the habitat class in “measurementValue’”. the units associated with the measurementValue. if available, a machine-readable URI describing the measurement in “measurementUnit”. Data set name: Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Character set: UTF-8 Download URL: hittps:/Avwww.movebank.org/cms/webapp?gwt_fragment=page= studies path=study2706892261 Data format: tsv Description: The dataset contains records of locations of 13 immature southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, during their post-resting and post-moulting feeding trips at sea. The dataset encompasses a wide time scale (2005, 2006 and 2007) and covers a wide geographic range in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (South West [-58.75, -81.29], North East [-37.60, -28.65)). Column Column description label animallD A unique identifier for the deployment of a tag on animal. Timestamp The timestamp when the tag deployment started. Format: yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z' 12 Eder E et al Location lat | The geographic latitude of the location where the animal was. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system. Location long The geographic longitude of the location where the animal was. Units: decimal degrees, WGS84 reference system. Comments Additional information about the tag deployment that is not described by other reference data terms. Acknowledgements M. Uhart, F. Pérez, J. Guzman, V. Zavattieri, R. Vera and J. Rua assisted during the field work and deployment of the equipment and N. Ortiz assisted with the logistical support during dive simulations. Centro Nacional Patagonico-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas (CENPAT-CONICET) provided logistical support. The satellite tracking research was financed by Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica PICT 01- 11749 and CONICET PIP 02462 Resolucion 1123/03. The light- temperature devices were provided by the Australian Antarctic Division. The original research was part of a Ph.D. programme supported by the National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET). The Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/ AN1/AntaBIS), provided support for the publication of this data paper in the framework of EU-Lifewatch, as a contribution the SCAR Antarctic biodiveristy portal (biodiversity.aq). The research procedures in this study were conducted under permits from Subsecretaria de Conservacién y Areas Protegidas, Ministerio de Turismo and the Direccién de Fauna y Flora Silvestre of Chubut Province. Author contributions Elena Eder: conceptualisation; data curation; experiments, analysis and corrections; investigation; methodology; writing — original draft; writing — review and editing. Marcos Zarate: data curation, compliance and preparation of data for submission to GBIF; software; visualisation; writing — review and editing. Mirtha Lewis: supervision; methodology, funding acquisition, writing — review and editing. References ° Bailleul F, Charrassin J, Monestiez P, Roquet F, Biuw M, Guinet C (2007) Successful foraging zones of southern elephant seals from the Kerguelen Islands in relation to oceanographic conditions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 362 (1487): 2169-2181. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2109 ° Behrenfeld MJ, Boss E (2003) The beam attenuation to chlorophyll ratio: an optical index of phytoplankton physiology in the surface ocean? Deep Sea Research Part |: Oceanographic Research Papers 50 (12): 1537-1549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr. 2003.09.002 Light and temperature records of the seawater associated with southern ... 13 Bell C, Hindell M, Burton H (1997) Estimation of body mass in the southern elephant sela, Mirounga leonina, by photogrammetry and morphometrics. Marine Mammal Science 13 (4): 669-682. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-7692.1997.tb00090.x Biuw M, Nest OA, Stien A, Zhou Q, Lydersen C, Kovacs K (2010) Effects of hydrographic variability on the spatial, seasonal and diel diving patterns of Southern Elephant Seals in the Eastern Weddell Sea. PLOS One 5 (11). https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0013816 Campagna C, Piola A, Rosa Marin M, Lewis M, Fernandez T (2006) Southern elephant seal trajectories, fronts and eddies in the Brazil/Malvinas Confluence. Deep Sea Research Part |: Oceanographic Research Papers 53 (12): 1907-1924. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.dsr.2006.08.015 Campagna C, Piola A, Marin MR, Lewis M, Zajaczkovski U, Fernandez T (2007) Deep divers in shallow seas: Southern elephant seals on the Patagonian shelf. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 54 (10): 1792-1814. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.dsr.2007.06.006 Eder EB, Lewis MN, Marin MR, Campagna C (2011) On- and off-shelf diving effort of juvenile elephant seals from Peninsula Valdes determined by light loggers. Journal of Mammalogy 92 (4): 811-818. https://doi.org/10.1644/10-MAMM-A-292.1 Hindell M, McMahon C, Bester M, Boehme L, Costa D, Fedak M, Guinet C, Herraiz- Borreguero L, Harcourt R, Huckstadt L, Kovacs K, Lydersen C, Mcintyre T, Muelbert M, Patterson T, Roquet F, Williams G, Charrassin J (2016) Circumpolar habitat use in the southern elephant seal: implications for foraging success and population trajectories. Ecosphere 7 (5). https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1213 Lewis M, Eder E (2021) Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina, Linnaeus 1758). In: Heckel G, Schramm Y (Eds) Ecology and conservation of pinnipeds in Latin America. Springer Cham, Switzerland AG, 165-190 pp. [ISBN 978-3-030-63177-2]. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-3-030-63177-2 McGovern KA, Rodriguez DH, Lewis MN, Eder EB, Piola AR, Davis RW (2022) Habitat associations of post-breeding female southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) from Peninsula Valdés, Argentina. Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers 185 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103789 Mcintyre T, Bornemann H, Plétz J, Tosh C, Bester M (2012) Deep divers in even deeper seas: habitat use of male southern elephant seals from Marion Island. Antarctic Science 24 (6): 561-570. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102012000570 Mcintyre T, Bornemann H, Plétz J, Tosh C, Bester M (2011) Water column use and forage strategies of female southern elephant seals from Marion Island. Marine Biology (158)2125-2139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1719-2 Paez-Rosas D, Riofrio-Lazo M, Ortega J, Morales JdD, Carvajal R, Alava JJ (2018) Southern elephant seal vagrants in Ecuador: a symptom of La Nifa events? Marine Biodiversity Records 11 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41200-018-0149-y Tosh C, de Bruyn PJN, Steyn J, Bornemann H, van den Hoff J, Stewart B, Plotz J, Bester M (2015) The importance of seasonal sea surface height anomalies for foraging juvenile southern elephant seals. Marine Biology 162 (10): 2131-2140. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s00227-015-2743-4 Wilkinson M, Dumontier M, Aalbersberg | (2016) The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data 3- https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata. 2016.18 14 Eder E et al Zarate M, Eder E (2022) Light and temperature records of the seawater associated to southern elephant seal dives during foraging trips in South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Sampling event dataset. URL: https://doi.org/10.15468/jrvzrd