The aim of this project was to document the occurrence of marine mammals and seabirds in the waters of western Antarctica from South America to McMurdo Station, and particularly from Cape Horn to 90°W longitude, by collaborating with a team of researchers from the United States of America who planned to collect similar systematic data.

The Chilean and U.S. research teams functioned as a single integrated collaborative research effort for marine mammal and seabird surveys, see cruise reports.