Sensor pack can be seen glued to the head fur of an Antarctic elephant seal.
Platoons of sea lions are being fitted with arrays of sensors so they can survey conditions in Antarctic waters so deep that human researchers can’t possibly reach them.
“They provide us with a very detailed record of how temperatures and salinity change, and from that information, we can infer how much sea ice forms,” oceanographer Steve Rintoul told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The 58 elephant seals can remain underwater for an hour, diving as deep as 5,000 feet and gathering 30 times the volume of data that can be collected by research buoys.
Epoxy is used to glue the instruments and transmitters to the fur on the heads of the seals before the marine mammals are released to forage under the sea ice, typically 20 to 40 miles (35-65 km) each day.
Data they collect are expected to improve computer models of ocean currents in the region.
Photo: Prof. Mike Fedak - St. Andrews University
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