Project Title

The consequences of maternal effects and environmental conditions on offspring success in an Antarctic predator

Summary

Event Number:
B-009-M
NSF/OPP Award 1640481

Program Manager:
Dr. Karla Heidelberg

ASC POC/Implementer:
Jenny Cunningham / Elizabeth Kauffman

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Jay Rotella
rotella@montana.edu
Montana State University Bozeman
Ecology
Bozeman, Montana

Project Web Site:
http://www.montana.edu/weddellseals/

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Erebus Bay

Description

The consequences of variation in maternal effects on the ability of offspring to survive, reproduce, and contribute to future generations has rarely been evaluated in polar marine mammals. This is because of inadequate data on the survival and reproductive outcomes of offspring born in diverse environmental conditions to mothers with known and diverse sets of traits. This project will evaluate the survival and reproductive consequences of early-life environmental conditions and offspring traits related to maternal attributes (e.g. birth date, birth mass, weaning mass, and swimming behavior) in a population of individually marked Weddell seals in the Ross Sea.

Field Season Overview

Three participants will deploy to McMurdo in early October 2020 and will redeploy in mid-December 2020. The team will make day trips from McMurdo to the Sea Ice to find, tag, and weigh seal pups with their mothers. They will work out of two "Apple" shelters placed near Big Razorback Island and Turtle Rock. The team will also make four to five helicopter trips to survey seal colonies and locate pups.

Deploying Team Members