THE BEHAVIOUR of southern elephant seals is being monitored in a study that could predict their response to future climate change.

An international team of scientists led by St Andrews University has been observing the species’ interaction with its physical environment for the first time.

The St Andrews marine biologists, working with the British Antarctic Survey and several international bodies, tracked the movement of 85 seals using special sensors the size of a pack of cards in some of the most remote and harsh environments on Earth.

They were tagged at the islands of South Georgia, Kerguelen and Macquarie in the Southern Ocean and on the western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Data transmitted back to land via satellite showed elephant seals adopt different strategies to find food.

Dr Martin Biuw and Professor Mike Fedak, of the sea mammal research unit in St Andrews, led the research.

Dr Biuw said, “This data is really exciting. The new technology has allowed us to see where the seals go and understand their behaviour in the context of different characteristics of water in the Southern Ocean.

“The majority of animals from South Georgia fed within the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, but seals from other locations had a very different strategy and visited colder waters nearer the continental shelf.

“This approach helps us to understand population trends, where the animals forage and predict food availability under various climate change scenarios.”

Dr Mike Meredith, head of the Atmosphere and Ocean Group at British Antarctic Survey, said the Southern Ocean is the hardest place in the world to obtain oceanographic data.

He said, “The seals acted as ‘samplers’ to collect data from deep seas that we couldn’t ordinarily access due to their remoteness and harsh environments.

“Understanding how these animals respond to changes in their environment is fundamental in predicting how they may respond to climate change and the consequent changes in ocean circulation and ice dynamics.”

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.