The Erebus Bay Antarctica Weddell seal pupping season is now at its peak. The field research team is currently working to find all the Weddell pups born in the study area to identify, tag, and add them to the over 50 year population database. The team is weighing a select group of pups and moms to determine their current weights, and measuring the time select pups spend in the water during the approximately month and a half long nursing period.
More on Weighing Weddell Seals Here
The field researchers must travel to all the different Weddell pupping colonies in the Erebus Bay study area to do their jobs. Their travel is usually by snowmobile. This season the sea ice has been interesting and a bit challenging, yet the field team carries on during what is a very busy Weddell pupping season! We'll update you with new pup numbers as soon as field team members can access the internet.
The project scientists are gathering data to learn the extent of differences--variation--among Weddell moms and pups. As more is learned about variation in these Weddell moms and pups, the scientists are able to gather data about how many pups with particular characteristics survive to adulthood to have pups of their own. Researchers can follow the generations of pups born to particular moms, and are assessing the contributions to the population of surviving pups. The scientists are thus able to learn more about which individual characteristics have significant effects on pup survival to reproduction.
In the following Part 2 segment from our latest project documentary, "How Moms Matter To Weddell Pups", the topic of Weddell seal variation is introduced. Subsequent segments from this original 14 minute project documentary highlight the effects that such differences among Weddell moms and pups can have as to whether a pup will survive to adulthood and reproduction, and which of those moms are so successful that they have numerous pups, some of which go on to also become very successful moms...Weddell seal super moms!
The entire 14 minute project documentary "How Moms Matter To Weddell Pups" can be viewed on our Weddell Seal Science YouTube Channel.
Below, is an earlier project documentary on Weddell seal variation, "Being Different if You're a Weddell Seal in Antarctica". This previous documentary goes into some detail about the kinds of variation among Weddell seals that the scientists are finding. The new documentary, "How Moms Matter To Weddell Pups", takes everything a step further by presenting some of what the scientists have learned to date about the effects on pup survival of particular characteristics among Weddell moms and pups. Here is that full video for a bit of background:
Comments