Seals Wired To Collect Deep-Sea Data

Sea creatures dwelling in the freezing waters at the bottom of the world hold many secrets, including clues to growing changes in global climate. Now one of the top predators in these waters has been armed with satellite-transmitting devices to help researchers peer into this mysterious world surrounding Antarctica. The southern elephant seal is the largest seal in the world, with males reaching up to 22 feet long and 11,000 pounds in weight. The elephantine snouts of these bulls produce extraordinarily loud roars. The lives of these giant marine carnivores and their prey has always been hard to monitor, diving as they often do to great depths under the ice in inaccessible stretches of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. Even what exactly southern elephant seals eat remains unknown. At the same time, their long-ranging and deep-diving natures make them valuable recruits to explore their mysterious waters...