IMIS - Marine Onderzoeksgroepen

The Biological Investigations of Marine Antarctic Systems and Stocks (BIOMASS) Programme was established in the late 1970's for the study of the Antarctic marine ecosystem and its living resources (Thorley, online resource). Data were collected during 3 major field experiments between 1981 and 1985, divided into two periods: First International BIOMASS Experiment (FIBEX) in 1980-1981, and the Second International BIOMASS Experiment (SIBEX) in 1983-1985. In total 34 cruises were carried out (El-Sayed, online resource), of which 21 cruises were gathered in this data set. This data set provides sea-bird observation collected in the cruises. Reference For full citation information, see [Cross Reference]. The main objective of BIOMASS was to gain a deeper understanding of the structure and dynamic functioning of the Antarctic marine eco­system as a basis for the future management of potential living resources (El-Sayed, online resource), with the particular focus on krill. Specifically, FIBEX was aimed at carrying out a quasi-synoptic survey over a wide area the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Pacific sectors of the Southern Ocean. SIBEX was designed to produce a temporal sequence of observations focused on much smaller areas of the Bransfield Strait and Prydz Bay regions (Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, online resource). Sea-birds data were collected as supporting data to krill. For further detail, you are referred to El-Sayed (1994). Reference For full citation information, see [Cross Reference].