It’s all about the Sanctuary…

    I may have been slacking on a new post but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been checking up on our tagged sea lions any less than normal. It’s kinda a fun ritual to come in to the office in the morning (I have no internet at my house) and see where everyone is…and then again when I need a work break….You get the point – my behavior would be concerning if these sea…

Continue reading

We are scientists, we don’t think our study animals are cute…

Ok, that is a lie. Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddelli) are not only the southernmost breeding mammal in the world, champion divers, excellent animals models to study and much, much more, but they are also extremely cute (and that is the professional opinion of the scientific community). Among the many, many privileges of working with these animals during their breeding season, is the fact that sometimes you run into amazing displays of beauty, such as when it…

Continue reading

Ok, but what is this project really about?

Try to imagine the following situation: a cheetah in the savannah is chasing a prey and it finally catches it after a while. Exciting, right? (well, at least for the cat). The cheetah exercised so hard, ran so fast to catch that elusive antelope that it now needs to rest and catch its breath again, right? Now, let’s picture the same situation, except the prey is a fish and the predator a seal. There is…

Continue reading

Week 3 – The end is in sight

  The start  of this week did not look promising as the weather kicked up over the weekend and we had some large swells come in. The waves don’t look like much, but they are much larger when you are on the water trying to navigate in a small zodiac. If the swells are too big it is not safe for us to cross and we have to call off field work for the day.…

Continue reading