Journal Entry # 9

26 November - 12 December, 2001

Summary: Field Camp: Big Razorback

       A few weeks ago as I was resting in my room from Thanksgiving dinner and my recent two week stint in the Dry Valleys, I got a call from Mike Cameron, who is the team leader for project BO-009, a seal ecology group.  Mike and I talked about me joining his group the on the following Monday and despite the dirty clothes I had piled up and the last of showers I'd had in the last few weeks, I enthusiastically agreed to enter the field again.
       I knew that Mike's team was continuing a seal census that dates back to the 1960s, but I had no idea how much interaction with the seal I'd have.  On the sea ice around Ross Island, there are many colonies of Weddel Seals, which are the study animals for the groups work on population dynamics.  Within the McMurdo Sound study area, all the seals are tagged on both their rear flippers with numbered tags.  What the "seal heads," as I found the group was called, would do is go out and record all the tagged animals they saw within the study area during their surveys that were conducted twice a week.  If there was ever an animal that wasn't tagged, or if there was a seal whose tag was broken or missing, we'd tag the animal.  Which would involve "bagging" it in a canvas bag that covered the front half of the seal to prevent it from moving and then tagging that seal's rear flippers.
       When I went out on the first Monday, I found out that it was a survey day for the team and I was to help.  What I also found out was I was on their marine mammal permit and legally allowed to interact with the animals in the name of science.  I also found out that one of their team members had left the week before and I was stepping in to fill his spot for the following 3 weeks.  That meant that I wasn't looking over someone's shoulder learning about science, I was learning by doing, which was a fabulous teaching tool.  That first survey day for me I personally read over 100 tags.  
       I went from seeing seals at a distance, to interacting with more than a hundred seals in a simple day.  Later as the weeks progressed, I got even more hands on, getting the opportunity to both bag seals we were tagging along with tagging them myself.  
       Most of the time we zipped around the McMurdo Sound on Skandic snowmobiles, but on some occasions, we'd have helicopter flights to distant locations to observe seals outside the study area.  
       The work with the seal heads came to a close as their field season ended.  The last few days working with them was done in between McMurdo and the camp at Big Razorback, preparing to turn in all our supplies and gear.  It was depressing to finish the work with the seals.  Everything about working at Big Razorback was great, the team, Mike, Mark, Shawn, Peter and Bob were fabulous teachers.  I hands on learning and experiences were unforgettable and of course seeing so many seals close up everyday was a unique occurrence.
       The seal heads are going back to the states in a few days, as for myself, I am preparing for my trip to the South Pole Station at the end of December.