The 2017 Weddell study field team on the ice is now hard at work getting everything together for the Weddell pupping season in Erebus Bay, Antarctica. Equipment needs to be set up and tested, safe sea ice routes need to be established and flagged to the various Weddell pupping colonies in the Erebus Bay Study Area, and the wooden fish huts need to be prepped and stocked for the "camp pull" coming up. This is when the remote sea ice camp huts, from which the Weddell seal field team will live and work during the entire pupping season, will be pulled out to the site of this season's remote sea ice field camp.

In the photo above by MS student and co-crew leader Kaitlin Macdonald, 2017 field team members Shane Petch and Thomas Sutton work in the McMurdo Crary Science Building to sort and assemble the small tags that will be used this season.

In this photo by Thomas Sutton, Shane Petch is preparing the Weddell population project's lab room in the Crary Science Building at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The lab has gorgeous views out the windows toward the Royal Society Mountains and sea ice transition where the sea ice meets the ice shelf.

Above, Shane and Thomas stand before the heroic era Scott Hut at Hut Point. There are three wooden huts from the heroic era of Antarctica exploration and science in the general area where the Weddell seal population study's wooden huts will be placed on the sea ice for the Weddell pupping season. Two of the heroic era huts were built by Robert Falcon Scott and his men. One of the historic huts is the Sir Ernest Shackleton Nimrod Expedition hut. History is everywhere here! You can check out one of our prior blog posts on the heroic era huts in the Erebus Bay area, or read more about the Weddell seal population study's nearly 50 year history in the Project History section of our main web portal, WeddellSealScience.com.

In Shane's photo above, Thomas works to adjust and calibrate the camera positioning for the upcoming photogrammetric imaging of the seals in the field to accurately assess their mass (weight) in a non-intrusive technique involving photos and 3D computer modeling and interpolation.

Coming up, we'll get a closer view of the sea ice route flagging teamwork, as safe sea ice routes to the numerous Weddell pupping colonies are established by the team. Please stay tuned!

– Mary Lynn Price