The University of Tasmania Antarctic Wildlife Research Unit, led by Assoc-Prof Mark Hindell), instituted a research project to better understand seal behaviour and population dynamics in the Southern Ocean).

By applying sensors to elephant seals on Macquarie Island, and to Weddell seals at Dumont D'Urville in East Antarctic, scientists can receive data for 10 months of the year of the upper layers of the ocean. A by-product of this research is access to oceanographic information in the Southern Ocean and beneath the sea ice. The Australian project joined with others involving British, French and US researchers in the Southern Ocean and at the Antarctic coast and their latest research has just been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This video, filmed by Assoc-Prof Hindell, shows Weddell seals on the ice at Dumont D'Urville. - 9MB MOV

Credit: University of Tasmania