Weddell Seal Science

Dear Viewers & Friends!

We are very disappointed to report that our Antarctica Field Blog production platform is currently experiencing technical difficulties with properly processing links included in the blog posts such that the vast majority of links to other resources and websites do not connect to functional websites or resources.

We have been using this blogging platform without incident since our very 1st Weddell Seal Science Antarctica Field Blog post back in October of 2010! The blogging platform technical crew is well aware of the problem and assures us they are working to rapidly resolve this very significant technical problem. We are very hopeful that they can fix this issue without too much delay! 

In the meantime, please check out our wonderful Weddell Seal Science Instagram presence produced by project lead scientist Prof. Jay Rotella and his daughter Sophie, and Jesse DeVoe's fantastic the Aspiring Ecologist Field Blog!!

We humbly Thank You for your patience with this issue. Please check out the above two great resources to keep up with the Erebus Bay Weddell seal pupping season, the daily work and findings of the project researchers, and more fascinating info on that magnificent Antarctica marine predator, the Weddell seal!

- Mary Lynn Price

Check Out the Aspiring Ecologist Field Blog by Jesse DeVoe!!

One of the Best Sources for all things 2018 Erebus Bay Weddell seal pupping season,* the field research team's work with the seals, and daily life of the 2018 Antarctica field team on the Ice, is the stunning field blog the Aspiring Ecologist created and produced by project scientist and field crew co-leader Jesse DeVoe M.S. Wonderful work, Jesse!!

 * Our other fantastic source for amazing photos of moms and pups--lots of pups--and great up-to-date info on the research team's work, is our Weddell Project Instagram Presence!! We'll be featuring the Project Instagram Presence produced and curated by Project Lead Scientist Prof. Jay Rotella and his daughter Sophie in an upcoming post!

• Mary Lynn Price
  

2018 Antarctica Field Crew Now On The Ice!

The entire 2018 Antarctica Field Team for the Erebus Bay Weddell Seal Population Dynamics Project has arrived on The Ice! 

"We’re all on the ice now and hope to get camp out on Monday - after a lengthy weather delay, things are improving rapidly," notes lead project scientist Professor Jay Rotella of the Montana State University-Bozeman Ecology Department.

Four members of the 2018 Field Team celebrate their first steps on the Ice of the season in the photo below...

One of the Project's longtime researchers and field crew leaders, Kaitlin Macdonald, successfully defended her Master of Science degree at MSU very recently and successfully submitted her final thesis the day before she headed south to Antarctica to begin this 2018 Weddell seal pupping season!

We want to congratulate Kaitlin (shown in the photo below by 2018 field team specialist Shane Petch getting off the plane this season in Antarctica) on her hard-earned and well-deserved accomplishment! She will receive her Master of Science degree in December, 2018 and continue on the Weddell Seal Project as a Ph.D. student beginning in January of this season. Congratulations Kaitlin!

In the photo below, 2018 Antarctica Field Team members from left to right: Jesse DeVoe, Shane Petch, Victor Villalobos, Kit Cunningham, Kaitlin Macdonald, and Alissa Anderson. Photo by Jesse DeVoe.

Also a member of the 2018 Field Team this season is photographer extraordinaire William Link of the US Geological Survey, whose Weddell photos from a previous season were spectacular and the story went completely viral. Longtime Field Team Member, Crew Leader, and recipient of an M.S. from MSU Jesse DeVoe is also back this season! Jesse's imaging is simply superb, as is his wonderful Aspiring Ecologist Blog which we hope he starts up again soon this season!

Among the many tasks the field team accomplishes near the beginning of the season is the sorting, counting, and assembling of the small tags that are affixed to the hind flippers of this population of Weddell seals. In the photo above the members of the 2018 field team are prepping the tags in the utility loading dock near the project's work lab. This season represents 50 years of this very project gathering data on these seals, resulting in a longterm population data set that is unique in the scientific community. The Weddell population project has the distinction of the very early-assigned science group designation, B-009.

In an upcoming field blog post we'll introduce you to the entire 2018 Antarctica Team! We expect this to be another fascinating Erebus Bay Weddell seal pupping season and encourage viewers to check back regularly for new updates, science stories, new project scientific publications, fantastic imagery from the Team on the Ice, and much much more!

- Mary Lynn Price

The 2018 Weddell Seal Pupping & Science Season Opens!

Welcome to the 2018 Antarctica Weddell Seal Population Study Field Blog!


We have a great season ahead for both the Erebus Bay Weddell seals that return every year to pup and the scientists who return year after year, pupping season after pupping season, to study, better understand, and conserve these magnificent Antarctic marine predators! Much of the Weddell seal population study Antarctica field crew is now in Christchurch, New Zealand awaiting their flight South to U.S. Antarctic Base McMurdo Station, enduring multiple weather delays.

Some upcoming 2018 Antarctica Field Blog highlights include the return to the Ice as a new Montana State University M.Sc. degree holder Weddell seal population scientist Kaitlin McDonald! Also the Weddell seal population project begins its 50th year of gathering data on the Erebus Bay Weddell seal population, as several veteran project researchers return to the Ice again this landmark year.

Also, geologist and USGS photographer extraordinaire William Link is returning to the Ice this season to delight us with more of his amazing imaging!

We'll be following rare older Weddell moms and discovering their ancestry and offspring, announcing new scientific papers recently published by the project, and showcasing our latest project video on How Weddell Moms Matter To Their Pups. Much, much more to come so please check back frequently!

This population ecology science group is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and supported through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).

-Mary Lynn Price