Responses and adaptations by two seal species to variability in the Southern Ocean ecosystem

Project aim

Weddell and southern elephant seals are high-order predators living in the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Their place in that ecosystem is the result of a long history of evolutionary adaptation to a challenging and changing environment. The objective of this study is to understand how Weddell and elephant seals have adapted and are responding to todays rapidly changing Antarctic environment. This study will use current and innovative approaches in demographic (population) analyses and diet techniques to analyse changes in the seals' demographic parameters and historical aspects of their ecology.