By: Nina He
The ocean is a mysterious place that we know little about. Equipment and robots to explore the sea can be expensive and often malfunction so some students from Australia came up with another way to explore the waters off of Olive and Kangaroo Island near Australia.
Recently, Nathan Angelakis, a Ph.D. student at the South Australian Research and Development Institute and the University of Adelaide, along with some of his colleagues, decided to recruit the help of some sea lions living in the waters near Olivia and Kangaroo island in their efforts to explore the deep blue.
These eight aquatic helpers dived 300 feet underwater. The ecosystems that these assistants visit every day can help scientists protect these environments. Not only are these environments endangered, but there is also barely any knowledge known about these mysterious places. By learning more about these ecosystems, scientists can help preserve these places better. Not only that, they can also help people learn more about the behavior of sea lions.
To put the cameras and trackers on the sea lions, the researchers approached the creatures while they rested on the shore. After giving them a light sedative, they glued synthetic wet suit material to their heads and backs. Then they attached trackers and cameras to the material.
A few days later, these sea lions naturally came back to shore to rest. While resting, the researchers took the cameras and trackers off. The material remained glued on but will fall off as the sea lions molt.
Mr. Angelakis said the footage from the cameras can be “really exciting.”
Perhaps the most thrilling scene was captured by Daphne, one of the sea lions with pups. “She was taking her pup out to sea, and that’s the first direct evidence that we’ve collected of Australian sea lion mothers teaching or passing on their foraging skills to their pups,” Mr. Angelakis said.
Overall, this experiment has been a success. Capturing the views of the ocean floor and sea lion interactions was a wonderful way to learn more about the ocean.