The Maps
Nesting Sites or Breeding Aggregations in the Region
The maps show the nesting colonies or breeding aggregations (green dots) for the species studied, and the percentage of the world population that each area represents relative to the total number. Those populations for which the Atlas provides distribution data are shown in blue text. Populations for which there are no data are shown in red. A blue circle indicates the colonies of origin of individuals studied with remote tracking devices.
All these maps were created by using the geographic coordinate system WGS 1984 (World Geodetic System of 1984).

Use of the Patagonian Sea
The remote tracking data was standardised and validated, and the kernel function was applied to transform the geographical positions or localisations (below, left map) into density distributions and utilisation distribution contours (below, right map).
The utilisation distribution contours indicate the distribution range of the animals studied and the areas with similar probabilities of occurrence. The darkest areas (50%) identify the zones where individuals remained for the longest time. Therefore, the 50% contour reveals the areas of highest density or probability of occurrence (they do not necessarily indicate the zones where individuals feed, but do indicate areas of intense use). As we expand the area of the contour to the 75% or 95% zones, the distribution range where the probability of occurrence is lowest can be seen. Lines indicate the complete distribution range (100%).
Given the characteristics and extension of the target area, the utilisation distribution maps were created by using the Albers Conic Projection in order to ensure minimal distortion in the size and shapes of the areas represented.

