Andrew Wight, Forbes. US and Chilean researchers have teamed up to use sensors on Crabeater seals in order to unravel important mysteries about the tiny crustaceans –krill– that the seals eat, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change.
The researchers realized that if they could understand the behavior of the crabeater seal, they could understand the future distribution of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) – which has important implications for food chains and the carbon cycle.
Andrea Piñones, a co-author of the study and a physical oceanographer at the Research Center of Dynamics of High Latitude Marine Ecosystems (IDEAL) says this study is one of the first to look at the fate of crabeater seals under climate change scenarios.
“Crabeater seals feed primarily on krill –more than 90% of their diet – so basically if you understand where the predator feeds, you not only understand their feeding behavior but also understand where the prey is,” she said.
So to track the krill, they first needed to track the seals. Sensor data from trackers on seals captured and released in Antarctica showed their movements, the depth of the dives, salinity, temperature and density of the sea, among others. The devices directly sent the data to satellites, which researchers were then able to crunch.
“Crabeater seals feed primarily on krill –more than 90% of their diet – so basically if you understand where the predator feeds, you not only understand their feeding behavior but also understand where the prey is,” she said.
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