Yesterday the 2024 Field Team made their first flyover recce of the Weddell seal pupping season in the Erebus Bay, Antarctica Weddell Seal Population Study Area. The photo above is of the Turtle Rock Weddell seal pupping colony which is beginning to see more Weddell seals arrive to give birth as the season begins. The field team has very limited internet access this early in the season, so communication from the field is currently limited to brief text messages with an occasional photo. The early Austral Spring weather in Erebus Bay has been challenging, and the study area sea ice only days ago opened to snowmobile travel.
Lead scientist Dr. Jay Rotella reports via text, "We’ve had some snowmobile and weather issues so no first day photos yet, but hoping that tomorrow goes well and that we'll have photos and stories for you! We did do a recce flight, and things look about how we expected with plenty of pups out there, but not too many [currently]."
Once the Field Team is able to safely travel by snowmobile out on the sea ice, they'll begin to flag routes for safe snowmobile travel to all the major Erebus Bay pupping colonies, and will begin tagging new pups as they are able. Peak Weddell seal pupping season in Erebus Bay begins late October/beginning of November. There's lots of hard work ahead for Team 2024!
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