Seals Wearing Tracker Hats Discover Hidden Canyon in Antarctica [Study]

Seals wearing tracker hats discovered a hidden underwater canyon in Antarctica as part of a study led by researchers in Australia and France.

The hats worn by the marine mammals include a geo-tracking device aimed at further understanding the poor coverage of the Antarctic continental shelf bathymetry, which impedes our knowledge of oceanographic processes that affect Antarctica's role in global climate.

This gap was acknowledged by the authors of the report published earlier this year.

The research was conducted in the Southern Ocean, which provided scientists with bathymetric insights into the East Antarctica continental shelf. In bathymetry, this field of study allows researchers to explore and measure the "beds" or "floors" of different bodies of water like oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams.

Now, the field has not only paved the way for the discovery of the Antarctic submarine canyon but also sought the help of seals, which can withstand the frigid waters of the icy continent.

Antarctic Seals Discover Hidden Canyon

In the study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment in July 2023, the tracker hat-equipped seals were used to redefine bathymetry to update the previous work done by the marine mammals.

This method allowed a longitudinal study of ocean physics and animal behavior to provide new information, coming from more than 500,000 seal dives, regarding the depth and structure of the East Antarctic continental shelf.

Taking into account global climate, scientists conducted the research since continental shelf bathymetry also influenced warm modified Circumpolar Deep Water movement onto the shelf.

This phenomenon is a significant factor when it comes to driving ice shelf melting and influencing the flow of ice shelves into the ocean.

As mentioned earlier, this method addresses the poor knowledge that we have of seafloor geometry around Antarctica, according to the research.

Climate Crisis

In the context of climate change and global warming, the scientists not only placed trackers on Antarctic seals to map the ocean floor but their main goal is to predict how the Antarctic ice sheet will react to the ongoing climate crisis.

Following the discovery of the mile-deep underwater canyon, this hidden structure will also help other scientists to examine the movement and melting of ice across the continent.

Multiple related studies in the past have been conducted in the field of bathymetry due to the looming threat posed by global sea level rise caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Antarctica is experiencing mass ice loss at an average annual rate of 150 billion tons.

Meanwhile, Greenland in the Northern Hemisphere is incurring 270 billion tons of ice loss each year due to sea level rise.

Over the past several decades, this melting phenomenon has been observed on Antarctic ice shelves and even on the continent's giant glaciers, which includes the doomsday glacier, the Thwaites Glacier.