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)