Today the Weddell Seal Population Project’s 2023 Antarctica field team begins their deployment to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Every springtime in Antarctica, our field team heads South for the annual Weddell seal pupping season in the Erebus Bay area of the Ross Sea to study these iconic Antarctic marine predators. The project has been doing this for over 50 years, resulting in a database that is unique in the scientific community.
Again this season, Montana State University Masters student Parker Levinson is the project field team leader, as she has been for the past two seasons. We’ll introduce you to the entire field team in future posts. The field team will travel to Christchurch, New Zealand where they will be further outfitted for polar work through the US Antarctic Program (New Zealand), and flown to the US Antarctica base, McMurdo Station, when the weather cooperates.
This season, we'll keep you updated through this field blog, and our Instagram account which is produced and curated by MSU senior Sophia Rotella, daughter of Project Principal Investigator Prof. Jay Rotella.
Please also check out our new multimedia ebook, "Weddell Seals", now available FREE on Apple Books, and as a direct download on the Weddell Seal Science eBook web page. We hope you enjoy the new eBook!
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