PRI Shows How Seals Assist Scientists with Predictions of the Thwaites Glacier Collapse

National Science Foundation
Office of Polar Programs
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230

Posted July 15, 2019

"Weddell seals dive almost 2,000 feet below the ocean’s surface. Elephant seals (such as the one in this 2005 photo) go even deeper – more than 3,000 feet. That means if scientists equip them with sensors, the seals are ideal for measuring the ocean’s temperature at different depths. And perfect for tracking the layer of slightly warmer water found deep below the ocean’s surface that’s melting West Antarctica’s glaciers," according to Public Radio International reporter Carolyn Beeler.

Beeler’s story about how seals are helping polar scientists can be heard or read here: https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-06-03/these-high-tech-seals-are-charting-future-sea-level-rise

An animation showing what the instruments the seals are carrying measure as the animals leave the surface and dive to 1,000 meters, or 3,280 feet, is here: https://interactive.pri.org/2019/05/antarctica/seal-climate-change.html

Beeler was selected jointly by NSF and NERC: Natural Environment Research Council as one of two journalists to sail aboard OPP's research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer earlier this year to cover the first deployment of scientists with the OPP-funded International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration.