For viewers new to this project, some quick Weddell seal info might be helpful. Weddell seals are true seals, and live their entire lives in Antarctica. They can be found all around the Antarctic continent. Weddell pups are born on top of the sea ice, where Weddell moms gather usually in colonies during the Austral Spring pupping season. This Montana State University Weddell seal population and mass dynamics study focuses on seals in the Erebus Bay area where there are numerous seasonal pupping colonies to which Weddell moms return year after year to give birth and mate. These seals are “philopatric,” meaning that they usually return to the place where they were born to give birth to pups of their own. 

Weddell seals are excellent divers. They can hold their breath for up to an hour or more, and dive to around 2000 ft. Because they can hold their breath for so long, they are able to travel far under the sea ice to access the top on the sea ice to give birth where there are no natural predators that might prey on their vulnerable pups. They make use of tidal cracks and holes in the ice that occur where the sea ice meets the fast ice–ice that is fastened to the shorelines. Weddells use their big sharp teeth to rake the ice and widen cracks and holes to keep them open for breathing and access to the top of the sea ice to haul out. Weddell moms will also use their teeth to make ramps along the sides of holes and cracks that help their new pups get back out of the water as they learn to swim. More on these amazing animals to come!

– Mary Lynn Price