Weddell seal pupping season is underway, and pregnant Weddell seal moms are swimming under the sea ice in Erebus Bay to access safe pupping colony areas on top of the ice to give birth. With the 2017 Antarctica Field Team on the ice now, including project lead scientist Jay Rotella and author/imager Jeremy Schmidt, the entire crew is working hard from the remote sea ice camp to quickly assess and record every Weddell pup born in the Erebus Bay study area pupping colonies. Here's a short video of a Weddell mom giving birth to her new pup. This video from a previous season was recorded in high definition by Mary Lynn Price, thanks to the sharp eyes of field team co-crew leader Jesse DeVoe who first noticed the Weddell mom-to-be behaving in a way that looked like she might be ready to pup. Thank you, Jesse! More on the population study work of the field team and more baby seals in our upcoming posts…
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