This dataset presents sedimentary census counts at International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1540 (55° 8.47ʹ S, 114° 50.52ʹ W, 3580 m) during Marine Isotope Stage 11 and includes the abundance of the planktic foraminifer Neoglobaquadrina pachyderma and the presence of ice rafted debris (IRD). The abundance of N. pachyderma was calculated relative to the total number of planktic foraminifera in the sample and converted to summer sea surface temperature based on the calibration of Govin et al. (2009). The abundance of IRD was determined relative to the sum of foraminiferal specimens and siliciclastic grains in the sample in percent and was converted into the number of IRD per dry weight of the coarse fraction (#IRD/g>150µm). A total of 13 replicate counts of the same sample aliquot were completed to determine uncertainties of the census counts.