A blog documenting some of the Montana State University Weddell seal science work in Antarctica during the Weddell seal pupping season in the Erebus Bay region of Antarctica's Ross Sea. More information on the Weddell seal project at WeddellSealScience.com
A short HD video podcast on the Weddell seals studied by the Montana State University research team here in Antarctica has just been released as a Featured Podcast at iTunes! As the latest episode of the iTunes "Staff Favorites" and Featured HD Podcast DiveFilm HD Video, this new short film will reach an extremely wide audience interested in nature and science videos.
You can download the HD video podcast for free from iTunes for your iPod, iPhone, iPad, or HDTV using Apple TV. Or you can watch it right here through our Weddell Seal Science YouTube Channel!
As the Weddell seal field study season progresses here in Antarctica, we'll be posting videos about various aspects of both the science, and the field work and camp life of the research team on the ice.
To get started with our videos about the Weddell seal science work of the research team, here's a brief video introduction to the Erebus Bay Weddell seal population study, its long history, and the value of this research work taking place in the pristine marine environment of Antarctica's Ross Sea. This video features an interview with one of our lead researchers and principal investigators, Montana State University population ecologist Jay Rotella.
The Weddell seal pupping season is starting to kick into high gear. And the field team is putting in some long, productive days.
As of today, the Weddell seal research team has tagged 116 new pups in the Erebus Bay study area. And a total of 35 seal pups born to moms of known age have been weighed.
Also, 46 pups so far have received temperature tags. Temperature tags are deployed on the pups born to mothers of known age. These tags measure the temperature surrounding the tag, and indicate when seal pups go into the water to begin swimming. Because the temperature of the water here under the ice is a nearly constant 28-29°F, but the air temperature varies considerably, it is straightforward to determine when the pups are in the water swimming.
Here's a brief video introduction to Weddell seals with one of our lead researchers and principal investigators, Montana State University population ecologist Jay Rotella.
The research team has been extremely busy for the past several days as the 2010 Weddell seal population field study season gets underway. And there's much to do! Here's a brief video of some of the recent activities:
The field team travels daily by snowmobile to various destinations in the Weddell seal field study area here in the Erebus Bay region of Antarctica's McMurdo Sound. So flagging the safe routes across the sea ice is an essential part of the field team's work.
Seals in the study area need to be surveyed, weighed, and tagged, and all that information carefully entered into a database. These data can then be used in a variety of ongoing ecological studies.
Today is a pup survey day. The field team will travel to all the seal pupping areas in the study area on snowmobile to count and record all the new pups of the season.
Yesterday, a U.S. Antarctic Program IT Comms team traveled out to Big Razorback Island to set up wireless internet and telephone system for our remote field camp.
This wireless satellite communications capability allows the Weddell seal research team to access communications technology while living and working at the remote field camp on the sea ice.
Here's a brief video on the IT Comm team working at our remote field camp to install our wireless internet and telephone communications.
Tonight we have wireless internet and telephone connection at our remote field camp!
Thanks to the great work of radio communications technician Michael Patterson and attenna riggers Erin Heard and Dan Mahon of USAP's IT Comms we're now connected wirelessly to the outside world.
Also tonight the top of Mt. Erebus, the active volcano near our camp, became beautifully visible as the clouds obscuring the crater cleared.
Here's a photo by bio tech and photographer Jessica Farrer of Mt. Erebus as it looks tonight from our remote field camp on the sea ice at Big Razorback Island.
The 2010 Weddell seal population study field season is off to a great start. The research team has been flagging routes to different parts of the study area to be able to conduct surveys of the Weddell seal population in those locations.
And the first seal pup of the 2010 season was tagged at the Big Razorback Weddell seal colony, very near our remote field camp site. The pup was given the tag number 0001C. Here's a quick video snapshot of the new pup:
This Weddell seal population dynamics study is one of the longest running population studies of a long-lived mammal anywhere in the world. Initiated in 1968, this mark-resight project database has been continuously maintained and updated every year since.
As of the end of last season, 19,822 Weddell seals in the study area had been tagged over the course of more than four decades. Almost all pups born within the study area since 1973 have been tagged. This seal species also demonstrates strong philopatric behavior (individuals tend to return to the place of their birth). Consequently, most of the seals encountered in the study area are marked; and most of the marked seals are of known age.
Much more information on this longterm study can be found on the project web pages, including a database of all Weddell seals in the Erebus Bay study area identified since the beginning of the project.
Tomorrow, I return to our field camp. As soon as we have wireless internet connection established at our camp, we'll update the video blog, and introduce members of the research team on site.
This year the field research team includes PIs Robert Garrott and Jay Rotella, field camp leader and PhD student Glenn Stauffer, PhD student Thierry Chambert, biology technicians Shawn Farry, Jessica Farrer, and Jesse DeVoe, and field videographer, Mary Lynn Price.
Our Weddell seal research remote field camp is now up and running; and I've moved out to camp to join the team already on site.
We're currently awaiting wireless internet connection and a phone at our field camp, which will connect us with the outside world. We should have these in place within a few days. Will post a video tour of our new home when we do.
Today, I've briefly returned to McMurdo Station to finish up requiste refresher courses on PistenBully and snowmobile operation as we rely extensively on both of these types of vehicles to get the field work done and resupply our field camp.
So while on station and able to post to this video blog, here's a fascinating satellite imaging flyover video of the area from McMurdo Station to the Dry Valleys. This Landsat Image Mosiac of Antarctica (LIMA) video gives a great sense of this particular region of Antarctica.
You can see Big Razorback Island where our field camp is located right next to the Erebus Glacier Tongue. More about this in future posts!
This beautiful satellite imaging flyover was created by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio; LIMA Data provided by: Patricia Vornberger (SAIC); LIMA data produced by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and NASA.
The living huts are now in place; and the Weddell seal research team spent the day getting everything squared away out at the Big Razorback remote field camp.
Here's a quick multimedia piece with photos and video by research team biology technician Jessica Farrer showing the huts being moved into place at the camp site:
The research team continued today with camp preparations to begin the Weddell seal pupping season work. I completed my requisite snow school and sea ice safety refresher courses, and tomorrow will be able to join the research team out at the Big Razorback field camp. Looking very much forward to getting to camp!
Great landing by the USAF C-17 pilot on the Pegasus sea-ice runway outside McMurdo Station earlier this afternoon. It's quite an experience taking off and landing in those massive transport aircraft--never get tired of it!
After going through several arrival briefings, I went over to the A.P. Crary Science and Engineering Center at McMurdo Station and met up with members of the Weddell seal research team just returning from the field. Learned that the huts we'll be living in on the sea ice at the Big Razorback Island remote field camp were put in place today. Still much to do to get them ready to live in, but making great progress.
Also learned from the research team that they tagged their first Weddell seal pup of the season! Will cover much more of this work as the season progresses.
Tomorrow the research team continues work setting up the remote field camp; and I will begin taking a number of essential training courses, including snow school and sea ice refresher courses, to be able to accompany the team out into the field.
