Has not happened yet... We are keeping busy, but we are almost done with
our perinatal (basically when females are having pups) captures period. We
have so far caught 41 seals in the last 2 or 3 weeks. By the time this is
posted we will hopefully have caught 2 more to reach our required sample
size for one of our CCAMLAR projects.
First off, CCAMLAR is basically the governing body for Antarctic research
and they require you to submit certain project data to continue working
down here. Or something like that. The main data we submit is trip
durations of females with pups, so 32 of the captured females get VHF (very
high frequency) tags that we can monitor essentially 24 hours a day through
two automated data recorders to see when they are on shore and when they
leave. Basically we have exactly what I WISH I had had for most of my
masters project. This is more how its supposed to be done, rather than me
spending hours in my car driving up and down the coast looking for seals.
Once these captures finish up, things will hopefully calm down a little for
a couple weeks. We still do daily tag resights and other work, but we wont
be catching seals everyday. The resights are getting a little tougher
because pups are getting more adventurous so they have started wandering
all over the place. The moms too, so you have to search a little more to
make sure you get everyone.
That being said, the number of females on the beaches has dropped like
crazy. Females usually stay with their pups for about a week after its
born, then they begin going to sea for often several days at a time to
forage. When they come back, they find their pups on the beach by calling
to each other, then the pup usually nurses until its belly looks like its
about to pop. This is especially true for pups of females that make longer
trips because they are nearly starving before mom comes back, then they
gorge themselves silly. This is usually followed by something of a milk
coma, where you can actually walk right up to them sleeping on their backs
and at most they might give you a half-ass growl. You can even rub their
belly a lot of the time without them having the energy to do anything about
it because they are so full. Its like Thanksgiving day for them ever 2-5
days.
So anyway, many of the moms are now off foraging, leaving just packs of
puppies roaming the beaches. While they still sleep a good amount of the
time, many are also starting to form little gangs that romp around
together. I saw one chasing a skua, which made me very proud.
It is a little weird how attached you get to some of the animals just
because you see them everyday. I only recognize a handful (it helps that
the pups of those ladies with VHF tags get names and symbols bleached on
their butts), but you still get to know them and where they hang out. One
of the tiniest pups I have seen here also happens to be one of the fiercest
and I love it. He doesnt take it from anyone. My marked pups also happen to
be named Arya (we have a game of thrones theme going), Kitty, Bubbles, Pi,
Carmen Sandiego, Rage, Wienerschnitzle, Funkmaster Fred and Aunt Jemima, so
you find yourself saying hi and checking in with them each day. Making sure
that the other pups arent being mean or calling them bleach butt. Actually
Funkmaster Fred is one of the biggest pups out there. I also almost got a
video of Arya chasing Kitty, which as anyone who has recently watched Game
of Thrones might remember, her dancing master tells Arya to catch cats as
practice for swordsmanship...
Speaking of GOT, I'm mad at that show. They finally killed my favorite
character. I know, I know, they kill EVERYONE (spoiler alert...), but
still. I wont say who it is or what season we just finished or whatever,
but fell free to guess. Now I'm a little turned off of watching future
episodes.
In other non-animal news, we also recently watched the Lego movie. I went
into it thinking ok this could be fun, but its a kids movie so who knows,
maybe they will pull something off... I have to say that movie is one of
the best and funniest I have seen this year. I highly recommend it to
anyone, kids or adults (many of the jokes I think are targeted for adults).
Even if you didnt play with Legos and therefore didnt have a childhood, you
will enjoy the movie.
I have also been reading a Bill Bryson book, which I am a big fan of. This
one is I'm a Stranger Here Myself, which is a collection of short newspaper
articles he wrote for a british paper about moving back to America after
20 years in England. I also highly recommend In a Sunburned Country, which
he wrote about travelling through Australia. A lot of the humor I try to
incorporate into these posts comes from his style of writing... I probably
shouldnt be giving those secrets away...
Thats it for now. I am continuing to lure puppies and elephant seal weaners
alike to be my friend and hang out. Maybe once we have a slightly more
flexible schedule I will get to spend some quality time with them, at least
before they become leopard seal poop...
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