2021-2022 Science Planning Summaries
United States Antarctic Program United States Antarctic Program Logo National Science Foundation Logo
Alert
Read the latest information from NSF on coronavirus (COVID-19)
 
2021-2022 USAP Field Season
Project Detail

Project Title

NSFGEO-NERC Collaborative Research: Effects of a changing climate on the habitat utilization, foraging ecology and distribution of crabeater seals


no photo available
B-038-N Research Location(s): Bransfield Strait and Marguerite Bay

Summary

Event Number:
B-038-N
NSF / OPP Award 2042032

Program Director:
Dr. Maria Vernet

ASC POC/Implementer:
Rachel Shackelford / Cara Ferrier


Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. Luis Alfredo Huckstadt
lahuckst@ucsc.edu
University of California Santa Cruz
Long Marine Lab
Santa Cruz, California


Location

Supporting Stations: RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer
Research Locations: Bransfield Strait and Marguerite Bay


Description

This project will focus on crabeater seal ecology to examine how seals may be affected by climate-induced match-mismatch interactions with their prey. The main aim of this study is to determine how match-mismatch between seals and krill relate to the predictability of ice cover in time and space, which, in turn, acts to enhance the availability of krill.


Field Season Overview

A six-member science team will deploy on the RV/IB Nathaniel B. Palmer to outfit at least 40 crabeater seals with satellite tags in the pack ice. A minimum of ten individual seals will be sampled at each of two areas – one in the northern Bransfield Strait area and one in the southern area west of Alexander Island. The team will use a combination of Unoccupied Aerial System surveys and satellite imagery to census the population of seals across a latitudinal gradient along the western Antarctic Peninsula.


Deploying Team Members

  • Daniel Costa (Co-PI)
  • Arina Favilla
  • Luis Huckstadt (PI)
  • Anna Pearson
  • Michael Tift (Co-PI)