Double duty.What can you learn from an elephant seal elephant seal or sea elephant, a true seal of the genus Mirounga. It is the largest of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, exceeding the walrus in size. ? For years, seals fitted with sensors
Sport of plunging into water, usually headfirst and often following the execution of one or more acrobatic maneuvers. It emerged as a competitive sport in the late 19th century and became part of the Olympic Games in 1904. behavior to researchers. Now, new seal sensors are also enabling marine biologist marine biologist specialist in the biology of marine life. Dan Costa and colleagues to collect hard-to-get data on the ocean water. In addition to recording how far and deep the seal swims, Costa's new high-tech sensors document ocean temperatures and salinity sa·line adj. 1. Of, relating to, or containing salt; salty. 2. Of or relating to chemical salts. n. 1. A salt of magnesium or of the alkalis, used in medicine as a cathartic. 2. levels, or the amount of salt in the water. Changes in these characteristics affect how currents flow through ocean water. So by gathering this data from around the world, scientists can trace ocean circulation patterns. Scientists have traditionally used buoys, ships, and submarines to gather this information. However, elephant seals regularly swim in places to which these devices can't go--including under the floating ice around Antarctica. Costa hopes that the roughly 10,000 ocean profiles collected by elephant seals each year will help researchers fill in these gaps. |
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