The 2010 Weddell seal population study field season is off to a great start. The research team has been flagging routes to different parts of the study area to be able to conduct surveys of the Weddell seal population in those locations.

And the first seal pup of the 2010 season was tagged at the Big Razorback Weddell seal colony, very near our remote field camp site. The pup was given the tag number 0001C. Here's a quick video snapshot of the new pup:

This Weddell seal population dynamics study is one of the longest running population studies of a long-lived mammal anywhere in the world. Initiated in 1968, this mark-resight project database has been continuously maintained and updated every year since.

As of the end of last season, 19,822 Weddell seals in the study area had been tagged over the course of more than four decades. Almost all pups born within the study area since 1973 have been tagged. This seal species also demonstrates strong philopatric behavior (individuals tend to return to the place of their birth). Consequently, most of the seals encountered in the study area are marked; and most of the marked seals are of known age.

Much more information on this longterm study can be found on the project web pages, including a database of all Weddell seals in the Erebus Bay study area identified since the beginning of the project.

Tomorrow, I return to our field camp.  As soon as we have wireless internet connection established at our camp, we'll update the video blog, and introduce members of the research team on site.

This year the field research team includes PIs Robert Garrott and Jay Rotella, field camp leader and PhD student Glenn Stauffer, PhD student Thierry Chambert, biology technicians Shawn Farry, Jessica Farrer, and Jesse DeVoe, and field videographer, Mary Lynn Price.

Also, check out a wonderful "From the Field" write-up about our work in the Antarctic Sun, as well as some of their previous coverage of the Weddell seal project work!

– Mary Lynn Price