Weddell Seal Science

Field Season Photo Finale!

Special From Parker Levinson, MS Student and Field Crew Leader:

Although the pupping season is done and the whole crew is back in the States trying to re-acclimatize to life without seals in their life, we each took a moment to go through our photos and select our favorite seal image from our time in Antarctica. 

From Morgan Anderson, above: "Here's a little pup looking quite ferocious for the camera. Despite any outward appearances, Weddell seals are docile, and do not view humans as a threat." 

From Avalon Conklin, above: "I took this photo on one of our last days out at Hutton Cliffs. Despite the overcast weather it was really nice out, with little to no wind. All of the seals out of the water were napping peacefully so I found myself tiptoeing through the colony trying not to wake them. I ended up laying down a ways away from this pup and his mom to take some photos. At some point he woke up and instead of turning away he decided to come towards me. He seemed fascinated by the camera and started rolling around and trying really hard to make chirping noises like an adult. After working the camera from every angle he just turned around and went back to sleep by his mom. It was honestly one of the most adorable moments I had out there and I feel extremely honored this little guy chose me for his modeling debut."

From Mairan Smith, above: "This is one of my favorite photos because it illustrates some of the cracks we had to cross daily and how remote some of the breathing holes are! A beautiful morning in Antarctica!" (The red flags were placed for team safety long before this seal moved in.)


From John Hobgood, above: "'Milky' and her mom showing off at Hutton Cliffs. This lighter pup is leucistic, a genetic mutation similar to albinism but with a bit more pigmentation. We don't typically name the seals, but given her unusual coat, it was easy to recognize her, and we couldn't help giving her a nickname."

From Brandon Davis, above: "This is a pretty cool picture of a pup molting. As the pups lose their baby fur and their adult fur grows in, they get some pretty fun hairstyles, like the pup in this photo."

From Parker Levinson, above: "There's a lot of attention on how cute and curious pups are, but I like this photo because it captures how inquisitive moms are as well. Plus, I have a hard time getting photos where both the mom and the pup are looking at the camera since typically at least one of them is snoozing." 

From Dr. Jay Rotella, above: "I chose this photo of Parker's because it nicely depicts the strong bond between Weddell seal mothers and their pups, reminds me of how much mothers invest in reproduction, and how long it takes to learn about the lives of Weddell seals. This 32-year-old mom ties the record for lifespan and sets a new record for most pups produced in a lifespan with her 23rd pup."

Thank you for following along with our fieldwork and supporting the science we do. We're so fortunate to be able to work in a place that few people get to visit, and we're glad that we get to share it with our readers. We also want to thank all the support staff at McMurdo Station that help us get our science done. We could not do our work without every single person there. Finally, a HUGE thank you to the entire field crew this year who worked extremely hard tagging pups and collecting data. Without them, none of the science is possible. 

See you all in October when we return to Antarctica! 

- Parker Levinson (she/her)

Antarctica Field Team Wrapping Up The 2022 Pupping Season

Field Report From Parker Levinson, MSU MS Student and Field Crew Leader:

It’s hard to believe the end of the season is here. We’ve been working hard the past couple weeks to complete surveys, which are crucial for the resight part of the project. The tags we put on the seals are simple plastic livestock tags so the only way to know if a seal has survived from one year to the next is to physically locate that seal in our study area and record that specific tag number. We’ve already done that for females who have had pups, but we haven’t recorded all the lone adults in the study area, so surveys allow us to record all the seals present in the area and determine annual survival rates. 

Mairan Smith reading and recording tag numbers on a survey. Photo credit: Parker Levinson.

By completing numerous, systematic surveys, we’re also able to figure out how many seals are present in the study area. Although we tag every pup in the study area, some adults do not have tags. During a survey, we record how many untagged animals are around so we can better estimate the entire population size.

Lastly, surveys help us understand colony attendance patterns. On average, a Weddell female will breed 2 out of every 3 years. During the years when she is not breeding, she might come back to the study area to mate in which case we would record her during a survey, but she may also go somewhere else on her "off" years. Recording who is present in which years helps us understand what environmental variables cause a seal to show up even when she isn't having a pup. 

Our study area is about 75 square miles so it takes a fair bit of time to survey it in its entirety. We split up into groups and map out survey routes the night before to ensure we cover the entire study area. Normally, we also record mom and pup pairs; however, we have a lot of seals this year, so to increase efficiency, we’re focusing our final few surveys on lone adults that are in the area as we’ve already recorded the mother/pup pairs. With three teams of two people, we can cover the entire study area in about 9 hours. 

Surveys have been really interesting this year. We’ve had a handful of animals show up that we haven’t recorded in over a decade. For example, last survey we recorded a male wearing tags “9501A” who hasn’t been seen in our study area since he was tagged as a pup in 2009. We’ll see if he continues to show up in future seasons. 

A male Weddell seal guards a breeding hole by Tent Island. Photo Credit: Avalon Conklin.

We’ve also seen a handful of one, two and three year old seals coming back to the study area, Typically we don’t see these younger seals until much later in their life. It’s pretty exciting to see and record these individuals to mark that they survived the earlier years of their life as juvenile survival is relatively low. These seals tend to be a lot smaller as they haven’t reached full adult size yet. 

Covering so much ground in a single day allows us to see a lot. Last time we saw both an emperor penguin and an Adélie penguin, which was quite exciting! The emperor penguin was quite curious about our snowmobiles. 

An emperor penguin walked a couple hundred meters to investigate our snowmobiles after we had stopped.
Photo Credit: Parker Levinson.

We're completing our final survey in the next couple of days before our time in the field comes to a close. Then, we'll transition to cleaning and organizing our gear as we get ready to redeploy back to the United States. 

- Parker Levinson (she/her)

Follow Our Weddell Seal Science Population Project Work Online!

The Weddell Seal Population Study has long had a strong commitment to sharing science news and information on the work of the research team with public audiences of all kinds, including students, parents, teachers, young people, seniors, nature and Antarctica lovers. We do this online and through presentations in several different ways. What follows is a visual list of some of the best ways to stay up on our work online and learn more about this Weddell seal population study and the science involved.

Viewers can find links to most everything Weddell project-related, including links to all the project's published scientific papers, and all our different social media links, at our project web portal WeddellSealScience.com.

Currently, our Instagram page is Hot! Managed by Sophia Rotella, Montana State University junior and daughter of project lead scientist Dr. Jay Rotella, this platform features beautiful and fascinating Weddell seal photos and videos, with descriptions that include interesting facts and science findings on this Weddell seal population. Recently, a short video clip of an adorable babbling Weddell seal pup filmed by field team member Mairan Smith went viral, and as of this writing has over 36 Million views and rising! The Instagram page itself has nearly 100,000 Followers! Enjoy the viral Weddell pup video below.

This season, we launched a new Weddell Seal Science Audio Podcast. Our current podcast episode features 2022 Antarctica Field Research Team members discussing their Takeaways from this Weddell pupping season. Past episodes cover everything from our science goals to Weddell seal vocalizations. Check it out at Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

As the Erebus Bay Weddell seal pupping season gets underway during the Antarctic Spring, and the research field team heads to Antarctica, we start up this Weddell Seal Science Antarctica field blog. We've been doing this every year since 2010, and all previous field blog posts going back to 2010 are still available. We have gathered some of our past posts together in a more accessible format in the Select Articles section on our Weddell Seal Science website.

Our Weddell Seal Science YouTube Channel includes nearly all of our Weddell Seal Project videos over the past 12 years. Please check out some of our videos and leave feedback!

 

We also have both a Weddell Seal Science Facebook Page with updates, news, and information about the Erebus Bay Weddell Seal Population Study, and...

...a Weddell Seal Science Twitter Page.

We have an older Weddell Seal Science Video Podcast available at iTunes where you can view some of our earlier project videos.

A selection of Weddell Seal Project videos can be found on Google Earth's 'Explore the Ocean'
Layer, courtesy of Mission Blue. To access these videos embedded in situ, download Google Earth, then launch it on your computer or mobile device. Make visible the 'Explore the Ocean' Layer. Zoom in on Ross Island, Antarctica and note the small gold circles in the Erebus Bay study area. Cursor over each small gold circle to reveal the video embedded there:

The Erebus Bay Weddell Seal population study has a good selection of Weddell seal population study videos and our public outreach and education WeddellSealScience.com web portal available through the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) website. The videos are available as Open Educational Resources Commons products allowing video download and educational usage.

To readily get to our products at the NSDL, go to their easy-to-use website and type "Weddell Seal Science" in the main Search field to access, watch, and download our project videos. Viewers can check out and download videos for personal enjoyment and informal science learning and teaching. The videos can be remixed to create new educational products. 

We are always looking for new and interesting ways to get information and images out to public audiences in engaging ways. We do have something big in the works right now, and can't wait to share that in the not-too-distant future. Please stay tuned!

The Erebus Bay Weddell Seal Population Study is funded by the National Science Foundation, with support from the U.S. Antarctic Program. The Principal Investigator on the project is Dr. Jay Rotella , Professor in the Montana State University-Bozeman Ecology Department.

- Mary Lynn Price
Weddell seal population project multimedia specialist

Some Cool Weddell Pupping Season Highlights So Far

It's now past peak Weddell seal pupping time, and the field team is working hard to survey all of the seals in the Erebus Bay, Antarctica study area this season. These full surveys require that the team moves through the entire study area, visiting all of the Weddell seal colonies in around 24 hours, to log all the seals sighted. They will do this many times. This is to account for as many seals as possible since many of the seals will be swimming underwater at any one time.

Field team researcher going from seal to seal recording data on every seal encountered during a survey.
Photo by Mary Lynn Price, NMFS Permit No. 1032-1917.

The team also encounters pups born later on in the pupping season, and records them, their moms, and the locations of their births. It's a busy time for the field team!

The entire 2022 field team with the New Zealand Prime Minister (center) on the National Science Foundation's
chalet deck, McMurdo Station. Dr. Jay Rotella is 2nd from right. Photo by NSF staff. 

So far, there have been a number of field season highlights this year. A cool highlight was a recent visit by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Right Honourable Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern, to whom a brief on the population project's work was presented. New Zealand's Antarctica Station Scott Base is very near the US McMurdo Station, and a couple of the Weddell seal colonies are quite close to Scott Base.

Rare old Weddell mom ties record for oldest mom at 32 yrs-old, with record-setting 23rd pup.
Photo by Parker Levinson.

Another 2022 highlight is the team encounter with a rare old Weddell mom who is 32 years old and with her 23rd pup. This mom ties the record for oldest Weddell seal ever documented, and sets a new record for most pups born over a lifetime to a single Weddell seal mom.

Rare 4 yr-old Weddell mom with 1st pup. Photo by Mairan Smith.

On the opposite end of the age spectrum, this season the team also encountered a 4 year-old Weddell mom with her 1st pup. It is very rare for a Weddell seal to give birth at that young age. There have been only two other 4 year-old Weddell moms recorded in the multi-decade Weddell population study. Weddells usually begin having pups when they are around 7 or 8 years old.

This season the field team encountered a very light-colored Weddell pup, which is very unusual. "It's the only one colored like this that I've seen here," notes project lead scientist, Dr. Jay Rotella. Photo above by field team member Brandon Davis.

This very cool aerial video by Dr. Jay Rotella shows the Weddell pupping colony at Turtle Rock in the Erebus Bay study area, and gives a sense of just how vast the area is, with seals beginning to gather around this small island and active volcano Mt. Erebus in the background.

A video by field team member Mairan Smith of an adorable talkative little Weddell pup has gone totally viral on Instagram with over 22 million views and rising! Check out our amazing Instagram page managed by Sophia Rotella, Montana State University student and daughter of project lead scientist Dr. Jay Rotella. Most photos and videos are accompanied by interesting educational info on the seals and the science work.

And finally, this season we launched the Weddell Seal Science Audio Podcast. Much of our multimedia outreach over the past 12 years has been primarily focused on written material, images, and award-winning short videos, so it's been fun to work in more of a radio environment, telling short science stories with interviews and natural sounds. In all, this has been one amazing Weddell seal pupping season so far!

- Mary Lynn Price

 

Five Weddell Seal Short Videos by Jeremy Schmidt

From Jeremy Schmidt, Weddell seal population project multimedia specialist:

For a quick, light-hearted introduction, check out these five easy short pieces. A mother seal lying on the ice doesn’t look like one of the most amazing animals on Earth. She’s big, for sure, but not speedy, not what you might expect from a top-level marine carnivore. She might raise her head and look at you for a moment. Maybe even open her mouth in a gaping yawn. Then back to sleep. Show’s over.

Her pup is a small version of the same behavior. Pups are very cute; in fact maybe the cutest baby mammal on Earth, with their big eyes and curious gaze. But even the pups seem mostly interested in just two things. First is sleeping. Second is nursing, which they do whenever they aren’t sleeping. As they get bigger, they will sometimes slip under the ice and swim around for a while, often with their moms, and then it’s out of the water and back to sleep.

Ho hum? Hardly. There’s so much more than that to know about Weddell seals. Even when they’re just lying on the ice in a pupping colony, there’s a lot going on that we don’t see, or that takes a long time to understand. 

In more than 50 years, the Weddell Seal Population Project has learned a great deal about the hidden side of seals — and produced videos that dive deep into the data. Those are available on our website.

Last but certainly not least, a short vid about Weddell Seal Super Moms which was completed before the most recent Super Mom encounters. The search continues!

- Jeremy Schmidt

Talking Baby Weddell Seal Video Goes Viral!

A short video of a very expressive and vocal Weddell seal pup by Antarctica field crew member Mairan Smith was recently posted on the Weddell Seal Science Instagram page, and has quickly gone totally viral. Our Instagram page is managed and curated by Sophie Rotella, daughter of lead scientist Dr. Jay Rotella. As of early morning November 10, the Instagram video had been viewed 3.4 million times and rising. Watch the new Talking Pup video on our Weddell Seal Science Instagram page! 

- Mary Lynn Price

Field Team Documents Record-Tying Youngest Weddell Mom With 1st Pup!

Update By Parker Levinson, MS Student and 2022 Field Crew Leader:

This has been a year for the record books. Based on how many pups we’ve tagged so far, we predict that it’s going to be one of the highest pup totals in our over 40-year-long data series. In a year with so many females producing pups, we’re seeing a record number of immigrant mothers and have already tagged more than 80 mothers who are new to our study area. We’re also seeing a record number of first-time mothers ranging from ages 4-17. 

Weddell seal females typically give birth to their first pups when they are 7 or 8 years old. This is because it takes many years for seals to reach sufficient body size and energetic quality to produce and raise a pup since lactation is very energetically costly. Females reach maximum body mass in their teens and so are still growing when they first start giving birth at younger ages.

Record-tying 4-year-old Weddell mom with her 1st pup photographed by field team member Mairan Smith.

This year amongst the many mothers, the team identified a 4-year-old mom wearing tags 8070C. To us that is really cool as this is the youngest age for a mom that's ever been recorded over the past 40 years, and 8070C is among a handful of seals to produce a pup at such a young age. The last confirmed 4-year-old mom observed was recorded back in 2000. We’re able to trace 8070's lineage back 4 generations. She was born to an 11-year-old mother in 2018, and her mom is still producing pups. In fact, this year, her mom gave birth to her 8th pup at Hutton Cliffs, which is a colony a few miles away from where 8070C gave birth. 8070C’s grandmother was born in 1997 to an immigrant mother, showing that immigrant mothers may contribute to the Erebus Bay population in ways we don’t yet understand. 

Aerial image showing where the 4-year-old Weddell mom was born at Hutton Cliffs
and where she was very recently documented with her first pup at Knob Point.
Annotated image by Dr. Jay Rotella.

Aside from tracing this lineage to satisfy my own curiosity, it opens the door to all sorts of research questions about this 4-year-old mom. Did she have an exceptional mother that also started pupping early in life and was able to somehow set her up for success? Was she born in a really good environmental year that helped her reach sufficient mass at an early age? Is she going to produce many pups in her life? Perhaps it’s less about the 4-year-old and more about what’s going on with the environment this year that has allowed so many females to reproduce in this study area. Was it a really good winter with lots of prey availability? Is the next winter going to be very productive so that mothers can regain body mass and pups can have an easier time foraging? 

We’ve only ever seen a few 4-year-old mothers in the past 40 years on this project, so we’re curious about what is going on that allowed her to have a pup so early. We’re fortunate to be part of a long-term study that has decades of historic data to help us understand what’s special about this year that resulted in her producing a pup and as we continue the project forward, we’ll be able to follow her in future years to see what she does with the rest of her life. 

- Parker Levinson (she/her) 

2022 Field Team Members Interview Each Other In Latest Podcast Episode

The 2022 Antarctica field team is working very hard to complete the Weddell Seal Population Project's work with the Weddells of Erebus Bay before the sea ice gets too thin to access.

During a recent day on McMurdo Station waiting for the weather to clear, several members of the field crew took time to interview each other about working with these amazing predators in Antarctica, what they've learned, and what surprised them most. We hope you enjoy the new Weddell Seal Science Audio Podcast episode!

Listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.

Listen to the podcast on Spotify.

- Mary Lynn Price, multimedia specialist

Field Team Records New Record-Setting Old Weddell SuperMom!

Report From The Field By Dr. Jay Rotella On Record-Setting Old Weddell Mom And 23rd Pup:

The team documented a record-tying and record-setting female Weddell seal this week. A Weddell seal mother wearing blue tags with the numbers 0550 on them (we refer to her as 0550C - “C” denotes the tag color, it's “C” for cerulean), was sighted at the Hutton Cliffs colony with a newborn pup. While tagging her pup and recording the information on the pup and mom, our field computer let us know that the mom is 32-years old and has had 22 pups in previous years.

Photo by Parker Levinson of record-setting oldest Weddell Seal SuperMom with her 23rd pup.

Such numbers are so rare to see that we looked up the full details on this mom at the end of the day on a computer with the full database for all the marking and resighting data that have been collected on almost 30,000 seals from 1978 to present. What we learned is that 0550C ties the record for the longest known lifespan: only 1 other seal (also a female with a pup) is known to have survived to 32 years of age even though thousands were tagged long enough ago to have had the chance. And by giving birth to her 23rd pup in 2022, she sets a new record for the number of pups produced by a single female in a lifetime.

Photo by Parker Levinson of record-setting oldest Weddell Seal SuperMom with her 23rd pup.

Earlier researchers on the project tagged 0550C in 1990 at the Turtle Rock colony. She was next sighted as a pre-breeder when she was 5-years old at Turtle Rock quite close to where she was born. She returned to Turtle Rock again the next year and produced her first pup at age 6, which is a year or 2 younger than what’s typical for age at first reproduction. At 7 years of age, she produced a pup at Turks Head, which is about 5 miles away in a straight line. Since then, she has typically given birth to a pup at Hutton Cliffs and done so in every year.

Map of annual locations of new Weddell SuperMom prepared using Quantarctica by Dr. Jay Rotella.

In fact, she has produced a pup in 23 of the last 27 years. Further, she has been sighted multiple times during every pupping season from 1995 through 2022. The accompanying map, which was produced in Quantarctica, shows her annual locations. The number next to each colored dot indicates her age when she was at that location. The color of a dot indicates her breeding state: pink is for years when she did not produce a pup (i.e., when she was a pup, a pre-breeder, or was skipping reproduction), red indicates where she was when she was a 1st-time mom, and green is where she was when she was an experienced mother. Many of the dots are on top of one another because her pupping locations have been in such similar spots and the dots are on top of one another for quite a few years.

Photo by Parker Levinson of new Weddell SuperMom showing worn teeth.

Our field crew leader, Parker Levinson, patiently photographed the mom and her pup with a telephoto lens, above. Based on seeing the mom and her pup in the field and reviewing the photos, her pup looks very healthy, and 0550C looks generally healthy as well. But she definitely shows some signs of aging. Notably, her left eye is a bit cloudy and has a growth in the corner of the eye. And, her upper canine and outer incisor teeth show quite a bit of wear, which is not surprisingly given that mothers gnaw the ice with their teeth to open breathing holes and to make nice smooth ramps that make it easier for young pups to exit from the water after swimming when just a couple of weeks old. However, we didn’t see any evidence of any abscess or fractured teeth, both of which were reported in Weddell seals, in a 1969 paper that Ian Stirling wrote about tooth wear in the species.

Photo by Parker Levinson of record-setting oldest Weddell Seal SuperMom with her 23rd pup.

We are interested in looking up how many of her daughters and sons have shown up again since being born and if any of her daughters have been seen with pups. Perhaps some of them might be strong reproducers as well. Perhaps she will return again in 2023 and other future years and produce even more pups. Of course, only time will tell. One has to be patient to learn about such females: 32 years is a pretty long time!

- Dr. Jay Rotella, Lead Scientist on the Weddell Seal Population Study

Weddell Pupping Season In Full Force!

Field Report From Parker Levinson, MSU MS Student and 2022 Field Crew Leader:

Pupping is in full force! Even though Weddell pupping doesn’t peak until October 29 or 30th, we are still getting lots of new pups every day, which has allowed everyone ample time to get trained up on tagging and data entry.

A pup shows off his new tags at Hutton Cliffs while the B-009 crew takes a snack break
by their snowmobiles. Photo credit: Avalon Conklin, Field Crew Member.

We’ve been trying to make it out to the major colonies every two days to capture birth dates for the pups. By tagging every new pup in the colony, we can be sure when we return to the colony two days later that any untagged pup was born in the past 48 hours. Birthdates have previously been related to certain maternal characteristics, such as age and reproductive experience. For example, a reproductively experienced mom who did not breed last year is more likely to give birth earlier in the season (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.1985). 

An inquisitive new pup behind Big Razorback Island. Photo credit: Parker Levinson.

A new focus of this study is to learn who is immigrating into the population and how those immigrants are contributing to the Erebus Bay population. Because we tag all the pups in the study area every year and seals infrequently lose their tags, we can be quite confident that any adult seal without tags was not born in this study area. Continuing to collect birth dates, especially on pups born to immigrant moms, may shed insight on who is immigrating into the population based on when they are giving birth. Are they high-quality mothers who are giving birth earlier in the season? Or are they lower-quality individuals giving birth later in the season? In addition to collecting birth dates for immigrant mothers, we’re hoping to learn where those immigrant seals are coming from using genomics. We’re collaborating with geneticists Dr. Nancy Chen at the University of Rochester and Dr. Elizabeth Flesch at MSU to analyze tissue samples taken from immigrant mothers to genetically compare them to local-born mothers and seals in other neighboring colonies. 

A female crabeater seal snoozes on the sea ice. Photo credit: Avalon Conklin.

Aside from tagging all the pups we came across, we also saw a crabeater seal this past week! Crabeater seals tend to live and breed in the pack ice (chunks of floating sea ice in the ocean) surrounding Antarctica so we don’t see them too often here on the land-fast sea ice in Erebus Bay. However, they are the most abundant pinniped species in Antarctica with population estimates ranging from 7 million to 75 million.

A crabeater seal's serrated teeth. Photo credit: Te Papa Tongarewa from Science Learning Hub.
(https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/3885-crabeater-seal-teeth)

Despite what their name implies, crabeater seals exclusively eat Antarctic krill and their teeth are serrated to filter out krill from the water. They’re a bit smaller than Weddell seals and have lighter coats. With such limited terrestrial wildlife around here, it’s always fun to see something new and different! 

This week is the busiest part of the pupping season as births peak strongly around October 30th each year, and we’ll have our hands full tagging every pup in the study area. 

- Parker Levinson (she/her)

Update From The Ice!

From Parker Levinson, MS Student and 2022 Field Crew Leader:

The start of the season always flies by, perhaps because the transition to working in the dry and cold Antarctic climate can be a bit tiring. Despite this being my fourth season on the Ice, I forget how draining it is to simply adjust to life down here. Additionally, there are a lot of logistics that need to happen before we can start working in the field, which results in running lots of "errands" around McMurdo Station from swapping out a snowmobile helmet for the appropriate size to grabbing all of our equipment for the field. 

John Hobgood snowmobiling with Mt. Erebus in the background on a very clear day.
Photo Credit: Parker Levinson

In a typical year, we would be living in a field camp out by Big Razorback, a seal colony located in the center of our study area about an hour snowmobile drive from McMurdo Station, so a lot of the first week on Station would be spent getting our camp outfitted and ready to be lived in. However, this year, the sea ice formed later than normal - around late August - so the ice hasn’t had time to get thick enough to support the heavy machinery required to drag out our living structures. Because of this, we will be based out of McMurdo Station for all of 2022. Although we were all looking forward to living and working in the field, we understand why we can't have a field camp this year and are excited to take advantage of the readily available showers and delicious baked goods that living in town (aka McMurdo Station) provide. 

We finished our final training on Thursday - learning about how to maintain and uphold the Antarctic Treaty through environmental regulations - and were able to get out on the sea ice Friday. We each spent some time experimenting with different head layering systems to stay warm under our snowmobile helmets, and eventually, all figured out a good system. 

Once we were layered up, we headed out to Turtle Rock where we found 5 pups! Turtle Rock is home to many of our local born mothers, and Friday was no exception. One mother was actually born at Turtle Rock back in 1998, making her 24 years old, and this was her 10th pup. It was quite nice to get out and see some seals; I had forgotten how cute the young pups are! Plus, the weather has been absolutely superb - sunny with very limited wind! 

Big Razorback colony with a couple mom/pup pairs seen to the left of the island, Little Razorback colony
in the back, and Mt. Erebus looming large behind the islands. Photo Credit: Parker Levinson

This week, we also took a helicopter flight over the study area, looking for hazardous areas and seals hauled out in unusual places. It was really useful to see the area from above, and we'll continue to reference the photos we took as we plan out our season. 

A newborn pup shows off its flippers before researchers tag it.
Photo Credit: Morgan Anderson, Under NMFS Permit No. 26375.

Now, as pupping steadily increases, we’re focused on getting trained up with seal handling and data entry. 

- Parker Levinson (she/her)

Lead Scientist Discusses Goals of the Project In Our New Weddell Seal Science Audio Podcast!

We have two cool announcements this post! First, the Population Project's Lead Scientist Dr. Jay Rotella goes into more detail discussing the 2022 goals on the new grant for our project in a new podcast. Second, that podcast is the first episode of our own new Weddell Seal Science Audio Podcast! 


The new podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and numerous other podcast aggregators.

Listen and subscribe to the podcast via Apple Podcasts.

Listen and subscribe to the podcast via Spotify.

The direct RSS feed link is: 
https://feeds.spooler.fm/feeds/weddell-intro.rss

We hope you enjoy the new Weddell Seal Science Audio Podcast! We plan to release new episodes near weekly from the Antarctica study area during the Weddell pupping season in Erebus Bay, Antarctica. Please subscribe to the new audio podcast via the podcast provider of your choice!

- Mary Lynn Price

From Our Crew Now On The Ice!

Field Report From Crew Leader and MS Student Parker Levinson:

The B-009 field team has made it to McMurdo! It’s always a little tricky getting down to Antarctica, and this year was no exception. Some members of the team were routed through Sydney, Australia on the way down to New Zealand, resulting in some very long travel days. They were able to explore the Sydney Harbor (while following COVID-19 protocols) during their long 10-hour layover.

We finally all made it to Christchurch, New Zealand and met Tuesday morning on our way to the clothing distribution center where we received our extreme cold weather gear. Up until that point, most of our interactions have been through email or Zoom, so it was really great to meet everyone in person and start gearing up for the season. 

B-009 crew at the Christchurch Clothing Distribution Center awaiting their “Ice Flight".
From left to right: Mairan Smith, Parker Levinson, John Hobgood, Brandon Davis,
Morgan Anderson, and Avalon Conklin. Photo Credit: Fellow USAP participant. 

Wednesday was our scheduled “Ice Flight”. After a very early morning, we checked-in all our luggage and boarded the C-17 (US Air Force transport plane) to fly to Antarctica. 

Some of the crew (from left to right: Mairan, Avalon, Parker, and John) on the C-17 awaiting takeoff.
Photo Credit: Brandon Davis.

However, due to very minor mechanical issues, they decided to delay the flight a little over 24 hours so we all unloaded and went back to the hotel. We were able to catch up on sleep before exploring Christchurch. Luckily, we had a very seamless flight day on Thursday and made it to McMurdo Station by the evening! 

Crew members (from left to right: John, Morgan, Mairan, Avalon, and Brandon) pose in their Big Reds
having just landed in Antarctica with the C-17 in the back. Photo Credit: Parker Levinson.

Now that we’re all on the Ice, let’s introduce the crew!

Avalon (she/her) graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz in June 2022 with a degree in marine biology. She has spent the last year assisting in research projects on elephant seals and California sea lions at Año Nuevo Reserve and is excited to apply her experience a little further South. When she isn't outdoors, she enjoys writing and painting. 

Brandon (he/him) graduated with his Masters in Wildlife Biology from the University of Montana in 2019. He has a wide variety of field experience from studying weasel moult patterns to looking at how lynx use certain resources. This is his second season working with B-009, and he’s excited to be back on the ice!  

John (he/him) graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Montana State University. Prior to completing his degree, John served 6 years in the United States Air Force as an Aerospace Propulsion Engineer. He recently worked as a research technician studying how anthropogenic barriers affect macroinvertebrate communities in freshwater systems. In his free time, John enjoys playing with his dogs, hiking, looking at trees, sarcasm, and well-made breakfast burritos.

Mairan (she/her) graduated with a degree in Biology from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington where she studied the diet of urban raccoons and opossums. She has since worked on a range of field projects including trapping bobcats and setting up trail cameras this past year with  the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. On the weekends Mairan enjoys playing cribbage, finding the best bagels around, jumping in cold water and reading! 

Morgan (she/her) graduated from Montana State University in 2021 with a bachelor's degree in fish and wildlife management and ecology. She has worked on projects studying American pika, anadromous fish, and White-tailed Ptarmigan. In her free time, she enjoys biking, hiking, skiing, and running sled dogs. 

Parker (she/her) is a current masters student on the project studying the factors that influence how many pups are born each year. She's worked on a variety of population monitoring projects from leatherback sea turtles to Adélie penguins. This is her fourth season in Antarctica, and she's looking forward to another great year! In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, playing volleyball, and doing jigsaw puzzles.

Enjoying a sunset in McMurdo before the 24-hour daylight begins. Photo Credit: Andrew Thurber.

The next week is full of trainings and gear prep as we get ready for another pupping season. After all the travel, it’s nice to get back into a work routine and settle into this unique continent! 

- Parker Levinson

Project Lead Scientist Featured In National Science Foundation's Discovery Files Podcast!

The 2022 Antarctica field team members are now in Christchurch, New Zealand awaiting covid test results and then a flight to McMurdo Station. We'll post photos and further info after their arrival on the Ice.

In the meantime, the US National Science Foundation recently launched a great new audio podcast called The Discovery Files! The current episode is "Antarctica's Weddell Seal", and features interviews with Weddell seal physiologists Drs. Jennifer Burns and Michelle Shero, and population ecologist Dr. Jay Rotella, lead scientist on our Weddell seal population and mass dynamics project. The episode can be enjoyed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Amazon, among many other podcast providers. The episode begins with interviews of physiologists Jennifer Burns and Michelle Shero about their work with Weddell seals, and finishes with Jay Rotella's interview about this Weddell seal project. Enjoy the new NSF's Discovery Files episode!

- Mary Lynn Price

Our 2022 Antarctica Field Season Begins As New Team Heads To The Ice!

Every Austral Spring, Weddell seals return to pupping colonies in the Erebus Bay area of Antarctica's Ross Sea to give birth, raise their new pups, and mate. Weddell seals are the southernmost breeding mammal on Earth. And every Austral Spring, researchers who study this Weddell seal population return to Erebus Bay to continue work on one of the longest running population studies of a long-lived mammal. Over the many decades the project developed and maintains a population database that is unique in the scientific community. (More info on the history of this research project can be found on our website, WeddellSealScience.com, in the History section.)

This 32-year-old Weddell mom with her 19th pup last season is the oldest Weddell seal ever recorded by the Weddell seal population project.

Today the 2022 Weddell seal field team began their deployment journey South to The Ice. They travel to Antarctica with the US Antarctic Program as part of the science group B-009. This group was one of the first science groups of the US Antarctic Program, and was the recipient of the first Marine Mammal Permit to be issued. The team members start their journey from the West Coast of the US and fly to Christchurch, New Zealand. There they receive training and are outfitted with extreme cold weather gear. Then, when the weather permits, the team flies to McMurdo Station, the largest US base in Antarctica. Once on station at McMurdo, the team receives further training in preparation for work on the sea ice. B-009 is one of what are known as "sea ice groups," groups that do science out on the sea ice. The Weddell seal population project is funded by the National Science Foundation, and is based currently at Montana State University - Bozeman.

This year the Weddell Seal Population Study field team consists of

1. Parker Levinson, MSU graduate student, and field crew leader for the 2nd time in 3rd field season in a row on the project;
2. Morgan Anderson, new to the project;
3. Avalon Conklin, new to the project;
4. Brandon Davis, 2nd season on the project;
5. Johnathon Hobgood, new to the project; and
6. Mairan Smith, new to the project.

Lead scientist Dr. Jay Rotella joins the field team this season in another week. He will be working in the field, and will also be working on project outreach. In upcoming blog posts we'll introduce each of the team members, explore the science work of the team and the project, and delve further into some of our cool new public outreach efforts this season.

Here's a short project video from previous seasons on some of what's involved in deploying to Antarctica. We hope you enjoy the video, and check back frequently for updates as the 2022 Weddell pupping season progresses!

- Mary Lynn Price

Project Lead Scientist On Success of 2021 Antarctica Field Season

Special From Lead Scientist Dr. Jay Rotella:

We are very pleased that we were able to collect data in 2021 and that our 2021 field season was so successful. Parker Levinson, Victor Villalobos, and Evan Shields did a great deal of quality work that yielded important data on core project objectives and kept the long-term database for the project intact for yet another year.

2021 Weddell Seal Project Antarctica Field Team, L to R: Parker Levinson, Victor Villalobos, and Evan Shields.

In addition to their successful efforts on the data collection in the field, they also each shared photos and information that help our team communicate with the general public about the scientific studies we do. We are really appreciative of all that they did for the project. Parker and Victor will have their first semester of formal course-work this spring as part of their Masters of Science graduate programs at Montana State University and will each also spend a good deal of time in the months ahead developing the core ideas and analyses for their respective thesis projects. I look forward to seeing what we can learn from all the data analysis and writing they’ll do over the next 2 years. We wish Evan Shields, who recently completed his Masters of Science program with us on a different project, all the best on his next endeavors and look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next. We also thank everyone that works to support our project. It takes a lot of people doing a lot of different types of jobs to put us in a position to do what we do on the project, and we really appreciate all of their efforts!

 

- Dr. Jay Rotella 

 

End of a Great 2021 Weddell Seal Pupping Season!

Season Wrap-up by Parker Levinson:

It’s hard to believe that our season has come to an end. It seems like just yesterday we were waiting for our first pup to be born. Now we’re back in New Zealand enjoying the sunset and savoring fresh vegetables while reminiscing about our season. 

Final day in the field, 2021. From L to R: Evan Shields, Victor Villalobos, and Parker Levinson.

Every season is unique, and this year was no exception. We lucked out with really good sea ice this year. In fact, the sea ice extended the farthest it has in at least five years which allowed us to easily access most areas in our study area. However, since we were living at McMurdo Station, located at the southern tip of our study area, we did have a lot of driving to do; we racked up close to 6000 miles on our snowmobiles this season! 

The record-breaking 32 year old mom with her 2021 pup on our final survey.

We finished the season by conducting a few study area wide surveys where we record every single seal that's on top of the ice. We saw our record breaking 32-year old mom and her pup on every survey! With just three people, those days can get very long as we record seal after seal, but the data we collect are incredibly valuable, giving us the information we need to estimate survival and breeding status in addition to other population metrics. 

Snowy Pup: a week of snow brought about some weather delays but also made for some very cute moments with pups.

We also spent a large portion of our time ensuring all the tagged seals had a complete set of tags. Seals occasional lose or break tags, so in order to track an individual seal for their entire life we replace any tag set that isn’t complete. The end of the season was quite busy with these tasks, especially after about a week of weather delays, but we were able to get a lot done thanks to the hard work of the field crew. 

Molting Pup: a pup beginning to lose its baby fur; they grow up so quickly! 

Though small, the field crew was mighty. Victor and Evan absolutely crushed it. They worked tirelessly through some long, tiring days in the field to get everything done and always managed to make the difficult days fun. I also want to thank both Kaitlin Macdonald and Jay Rotella for the support they provided from afar. From field logistics to database management, there’s a lot to learn about this 50+ year study, but they were always available to answer questions, offer guidance, and provide encouragement throughout the season. Of course, what we do would not be possible without the support of everyone at McMurdo Station. We sincerely appreciate everything folks at McMurdo and back in the States have done to support us. We’re so fortunate to get to do the science that we do and we don’t take that lightly. Thank you all for an incredible 2021 field season!

- Parker Levinson
__________________________________

Parker Levinson is an M.S. student on the project and is our crew leader. She was a great research technician on our project last season. She also worked on penguins at Cape Royds the past 2 years. Over the summer, she spent a great deal of time preparing to be our crew leader; Kaitlin Macdonald, our very experienced Ph.D. student and multi-time project participant and crew leader, has been a great help with Parker’s preparations and will be standing by to provide advice as needed. We are really fortunate to have Parker on our team and as our crew leader. 

New Project Video About An Extraordinary Mom and Her 23 Pups!

We are excited to announce our newest Weddell Seal Science video about one amazing rare old Weddell seal mom and her many offspring throughout her 31 year life in the Erebus Bay, Antarctica study area!

This video was created by project lead scientist Dr. Jay Rotella and Multimedia Specialist Jeremy Schmidt, with a little production assistance by Multimedia Specialist Mary Lynn Price. The video uses Weddell seal imaging from numerous Weddell seal research team members over the years. Data used to create an animated map through time were collected by our field research teams over nearly four decades of field work. The Weddell seal population ecology project has been ongoing for over 50 years, and is unique in the scientific community. Such a longterm project makes possible a rare understanding of where, when, and how often these seals reproduce. These data can then be correlated to environmental conditions and many other variables affecting Weddell seals in the Erebus Bay area of Antarctica. We hope you enjoy the new video!

- Mary Lynn Price

Giving Thanks To Those Who Make Our Work Possible

From the Ice by Victor Villalobos, field research team:

Before returning to the ice, I wondered how our 2021 season would play out without a full crew and field camp at Big Razorback. My last field season was 2019 (pre-pandemic). Since then, I have missed the seal pups dearly, my old, trusty snowmobile “Crusty”, and the satisfying feeling of putting on stiff and salty Carhartt bibs every morning. I was also curious to see how McMurdo Station has changed given that the pandemic has made travel logistics more dynamic than the sea ice.

Victor aboard his trusty snowmobile Crusty, with Turks Head in the background.
The MEC of McM keeps our snowmobiles running strong throughout the season.  Photo by Parker Levinson

Every season has its challenges, but not every season is the same. The sea ice is a constant reminder that magnificence, beauty, and some risk are ever present with each step we take. However, the amazing McMurdo Field and Safety Team does an incredible job each year training B-009 [the science group number of the project] for some of the obstacles we may encounter out on the ice. About every two weeks, sea ice reports are published that provide detailed information that help us make field decisions throughout the season. Our jobs would not be possible without the diligent, hard work of all Field and Safety personnel and helicopter pilots.

Geoff Schellens leads the B-009 team through some multi-year ice in North Base. Photo by Natalie Brechtel.

Comparable to the dynamics of the sea ice, I am continually impressed with the group of individuals that make this station operate under stressful forces. Although we all are working through a challenging pandemic, the ability to overcome formidable obstacles remains a puzzle for the people of McMurdo to solve every day. Many things have changed since I was last here, however, the quality and high standard of personnel remains at a pinnacle from what I remember.

The cleanest you'll ever see the B-009 team at the Thanksgiving Feast at McMurdo.
From L to R: Evan Shields, Parker Levinson, and Victor Villalobos. Photo by Shelby Redgate.

Although we do not have a field camp this year, I feel fortunate to be at McMurdo station. The spoils of having a hot meal, access to exercise, a warm room, and hot showers makes me forget that I am on the Antarctica continent. Sometimes overlooked, the hardworking staff in the galley provides us the energy to endure long days in sub-zero temperatures on the ice. Their amazing food, desserts, and tasty breads brightens our long days, especially when we must eat on the run. They always go above and beyond during the Holidays to make McMurdo feel like home for us. The logistics that go into providing hot water, hot meals, a warm room, as well as the janitors that keep things immaculately clean, are far too many to describe in detail here, but I appreciate every single McMurdo staff member and all that they do!

As I write this blog post we are in the middle of an Antarctic winter storm with strong winds rolling in. I have no doubt we will endure this storm because of the fortitude, discipline, and grit that every McMurdo member has. No matter the obstacle, the people of McMurdo find a way to overcome and make do with less. While B-009 is always grateful to work in Antarctica, I remind myself that we are especially fortunate to conduct Antarctic science amidst a global pandemic and many others do not have that same opportunity. I speak for all B-009 members that it is a pleasure to work with such a stellar community.

• Victor Villalobos
  Montana State University, Master’s of Science Candidate

Victor is a new Montana State University Master's of Science candidate on the project and is really valuable as he worked on the project in 2 different years: one when we had a camp at Big Razorback and one when we were based out of Turtle Rock. Victor has always been a great team member, very helpful with all aspects of camp life and field work, and very knowledgeable about our field gear, study area, and our tagging and survey procedures.

Interactive Weddell Seal Mom/Pup Image Sliders!

The Weddell seal population study is excited to announce a new outreach project: Interactive Image Sliders! The concept was developed by project multimedia specialist Jeremy Schmidt, (with a tip o' the hat to the the Katmai National Park grizzly bear project). The photos for these sliders were taken by researcher Jesse DeVoe. Because the mass (weight) of Weddell seal moms and pups changes so dramatically during the approximately 35 day nursing period, Image Sliders are a great way to see those changes. Here is a short video by the project's lead scientist, Dr. Jay Rotella, about mom/pup mass transfer using the new image sliders:

Following are the three image sliders used in the video above. The identities of the Weddell moms and pups are indicated in the black banners at the tops of the images, along with the month and day the photo was taken. The sliders can be moved back and forth using a finger on mobile devices, and cursor on computers.

We look very much forward to creating more Image Sliders on a variety of Weddell seal study subjects going forward. We hope you enjoy this new Weddell Seal Science imaging project!

- Mary Lynn Price