Sunday, January 13, 2008

ANTARCTIC "Seal Cam" Images

I have seen "turtle cam" before. Scientists view the habitat and the organism they are studying from the back of the Weddell Seal, so they can also study the habits of the seal without having to kill anything.
Why not do this to whales? Gosh, think how many cameras you could connect to a whale and have WHALE-A-VISION. It could be an excellent way to study their feeding habits and other patterns of behavior. Could record sounds also.
Can someone suggest this to prevent whale killing?
clipped from www.nsf.gov
Under the Antarctic Ice--Antarctic Toothfish
Toothfish Under the Antarctic Ice
Under the Antarctic Ice--Antarctic Toothfish
Swimming beneath the Antarctic ice, an Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) is photographed by "seal cam." Seal cam is an on-going National Science Foundation
scientists use seals as "eyes" to see what goes on underneath the Antarctic ice
Weddell seals are a predator of the toothfish.


Toothfish are found throughout Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula, South Orkney Islands and South Shetland Islands, from 0 to 695 meters depth.
A well-adapted hunter, the lateral line sensory system of the toothfish can detect prey by recognizing the low vibration frequencies emitted by swimming crustaceans.
More about this Image

Researchers Lee Fuiman from the University of Texas, Austin, Randall Davis from Texas A&M University, Galveston, and Terrie Williams from the University of California, Santa Cruz, equipped 15 Antarctic Weddell seals with video cameras, infrared LEDs and data recorders.
usage
Conditions.
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3 comments:

Unknown said...

Just an update. NSF had incorrectly labeled this photo. Its a bald rockcod, not a toothfish. Weddell seals do hunt toothfish, but they grow much larger (to 2 meters in length and live to much deeper depths). All the corresponding information in this post is about the bald rockcod, not the toothfish. NSF has since updated their site.

Its great to see Antarctic science being used in teaching!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update! If you will notice, I clipped bits of this article as a teaching resource. It's very disconcerting to discover that the researchers displayed incorrect information about their chosen targets to research.

Especially, since I posted this blog over a year ago. From now on, I will not be able to detail information from the website, but I will share generic information to help students and teachers find primary research.

In the past, I have clipped bits of articles to encourage teachers and students to check out NSF supported research, yet I will have to rethink that position. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.

samccoy said...

Just a note, I was interested in the seal cam, not the seal prey. I would have much rather have had a picture of the seal and camera. There are thousands of species of fish, and even the most judicious researchers have trouble identifying them. Use research with caution in your studies and lesson planning.

Thankfully, I was alerted to this error, by Cassandra Brooks. I don't know who this person is, but the information about the corrected article was correct.

I am wondering why a note was not placed in the edited article Under the Arctic Ice: Antarctic Toothfish, now renamed: Under the Arctic Ice: Bald Rockcod.

The information about the Anarctic Silverfish was totally omitted in the edit. Why was that? I don't know, but maybe someone will help us with that information.