Special From the Field by Prof. Jay Rotella:
Field Team 2024 just recorded the oldest Weddell seal mom ever in the Erebus Bay Weddell Seal Study Area! Designated SPENO 9365, she was born in 1990, had her first pup at age 8 (so right at the average), and has had 14 sons and 7 daughters. She has been sighted in the study area every year for the past 30 years and is very faithful to the Turtle Rock – Hutton Cliffs area. At 34-years-old, she breaks the longevity record by 1 year and is one of the top pup-producing females in the study’s history with 21 total pups so far in her lifetime. Here is an RStudio/Leaflet map of this Weddell mom's birth location and lifetime pup births over the years (to date).
RStudio/Leaflet Map produced by Dr. Jay Rotella. Click Here for a full page version.
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