The project successfully continued the long-term monitoring of the Erebus Bay Weddell seal population and maintained the long-term database during 2017 through 2021. This involved uniquely marking each pup found in the study area each year and associating it with its mother. It also included doing multiple surveys to document the number and identities of individuals observed. The project published 18 papers; produced, archived, and made publicly available the multiple databases from the project; and produced a variety of outreach products (see below). The project documented that the population steadily grew in number and typically produced more pups per year during 2017 through 2021 than it had in earlier decades, which is a continuation of upward trends for the population that began around 2005. The findings contribute to and complement work done on other important indicator species in Antarctica’s Ross Sea. The project also recorded birth dates, body mass metrics, and time spent in the water for large samples of pups that were born to known-age mothers each year. Recent analyses evaluated about how variation in birth dates, pup mass, time spent in the water by pups, and environmental conditions relate to the probability that a pup survives to adulthood. Current evidence indicates that pups that are heavier late in lactation have a slightly better chance of surviving to adulthood. However, other factors that we measured did not seem important to a pup’s prospects. The project compared survival rates for males and for females and found that males do not tend to live as long as females do. The project also found that the probability that a female will produce a pup each year varies strongly with age and peaks when females are in their teens. The project also learned that survival rates and reproductive rates not only vary with age but also among individual females that are the same age. As a result, some females are more likely to live longer than others and some are expected to produce many more offspring than others over a lifetime. Information on how much survival rates and reproductive rates vary with age, year, and among individual Weddell seals has allowed the project to learn new details about the ecology and evolutionary biology of Weddell seals. The information has also contributed to international studies that are investigating questions about evolutionary biology patterns using data from diverse species of animals for which long-term monitoring of the lives of large samples of individuals are available. The project also trained a number of graduate students both in the field and in data analysis and writing: three students earned their Ph.D. on the project, one earned their M.S. degree, and a fifth student began her graduate work during 2020 and 2021 and continues work on her Ph.D. program on a continuation of the project that is ongoing. The project also provided experience conducting field work in Antarctica for a number of research technicians: 2-5 technicians worked on the project each year. The project had a successful outreach program by using online blogs, YouTube videos, and Instagram posts that have had excellent levels of viewership and engagement. The project produced a 196-page, multi-media, e-book on the project that is freely available to the public in multiple formats.

Last Modified: 09/30/2024
Modified by: Jay Rotella