New technology reveals seal behaviorAugust 08, 2007New technology has allowed an international team including UK scientists from University of St Andrews and British Antarctic Survey to witness for the first time the behaviour of the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) and how it relates to its physical environment. Small sensors were attached to 85 seals to track their movements and collect data about their marine environment. Results are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The seals were tagged at the islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen and Macquarie in the Southern Ocean, and at the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The data from the seals was transmitted back to land via satellite and shows that elephant seals adopted different strategies to find food. The Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrews University led the research. Author Mike Fedak says, "These data are really exciting. This new technology has allowed us to see where the seals go and understand their behaviour in the context of different characteristics of water in the Southern Ocean. The majority of animals from South Georgia fed within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, but seals from other locations had a very different strategy, and visited colder waters nearer the continental shelf. He added, "This approach helps us to understand current population trends, where the animals forage and predict the availability of food under various climate change scenarios." Dr. Mike Meredith, Head of the Atmosphere and Ocean Group at British Antarctic Survey says, "The Southern Ocean is the hardest place in the world to obtain oceanographic data, especially during the wintertime. The seals acted as 'samplers' to collect data from deep seas that we couldn't ordinarily access due to their remoteness and harsh environments. Understanding how these animals respond to their environment is fundamental in predicting how they may respond to climate change and the consequent shifts in ocean circulation and ice dynamics." British Antarctic Survey |
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| Related Seals Current Events and Seals News Articles Funny, you don't look related When Charles Darwin visited the Falkland Islands during the voyage of the Beagle in 1835, he saw a wolf-like species, wrote about it in his diaries and correctly commented that it was being hunted in such large numbers that it would soon become extinct. Findings show nanomedicine promising for treating spinal cord injuries Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident. Tags reveal white sharks have neighborhoods in the north Pacific, say Stanford researchers The white shark may be the ultimate loner of the ocean, cruising thousands of miles in a solitary trek, but a team of researchers has discovered that the sharks have maintained such a consistent pattern of migration that over tens of thousands of years the white sharks in the northeastern Pacific Ocean have separated themselves into a population genetically distinct from sharks elsewhere in the world. Global public health the focus of scientific conference Counterfeit and adulterated food and drugs and advances in measurement science used to detect them emerged as key themes of the Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) hosted by the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention. A rare discovery: An engraved gemstone carrying a portrait of Alexander the Great A rare and surprising archaeological discovery at Tel Dor: A gemstone engraved with the portrait of Alexander the Great was uncovered during excavations by an archaeological team directed by Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of the University of Haifa and Dr. Ilan Sharon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "Despite its miniature dimensions - the stone is less than a centimeter high and its width is less than half a centimeter - the engraver was able to depict the bust of Alexander on the gem without omitting any of the ruler's characteristics" notes Dr. Gilboa, Chair of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa. Graffiti-free historic buildings Many a historic landmark is defaced with graffiti, but the spray paint can only be removed - if at all - using caustic solutions which risk damaging the underlying surface. A new breathable coating provides efficient, all-round protection against attacks by taggers. New light-emitting biomaterial could improve tumor imaging, study shows A new material developed at the University of Virginia - an oxygen nanosensor that couples a light-emitting dye with a biopolymer - simplifies the imaging of oxygen-deficient regions of tumors. Computers unlock more secrets of the mysterious Indus Valley script Four-thousand years ago, an urban civilization lived and traded on what is now the border between Pakistan and India. HIPS fireproof coatings can really take the heat HIPS coatings can withstand temperatures of over 1000°C compared to current commercial coatings used on building materials and structures which break down at between 150-250°C. Seals quickly respond to gain and loss of habitat under climate change Southern Elephant seals responded rapidly to climate and habitat change and established a new breeding site thousands of kilometres from existing breeding grounds, according to new research. More Seals Current Events and Seals News Articles |
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