Elephant Seals Can Be Scientists Too

Elephant seals collect data where ships rarely can. In this South Pole crossover, Dr. Clive McMahon explains how animal-borne sensors turn deep-diving southern elephant seals into partners in Southern Ocean monitoring. The tags collect temperature, salinity, depth, and ocean productivity data, especially during the Antarctic winter. The episode also explores seal behavior, population decline, Antarctic Bottom Water, climate monitoring, and how hard-to-reach observations improve oceanography and weather forecasting

If you enjoy this episode, you can find more from South Pole, a series dedicated to the science of Antarctica, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or all major platforms.

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Episode Guest: Dr. Clive McMahon

Review the research publication discussed in the episode here

Visit Dr. McMahon’s publications on Google Scholar

Visit the website of the Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences

Episode Transcript and more information on the Pine Forest Media Website

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Hosted, produced, written, and edited by Clark Marchese

Cover art and PFM logo by Laurel Wong.

Theme music by Nela Ruiz