Counting Weddell Seals in Antarctica

Have your students help scientists count Weddell seals using satellite imagery.

Many people think seals on the ice are easy to count. There is no place for them to hide when they are out of the water. They are not afraid of people so don’t run away, and if they are with a pup, the adult stays in the same location for several days. However it is not that easy. There are seals all over the place as new cracks in the ice create new suitable locations for feeding and many seals move to these new areas. Counting individuals is difficult unless they are tagged because it’s hard to know if we counted this one yesterday or not. To solve these problem scientists are using satellite images that can take a picture of a large area at one moment in time. They then can count them using a computer.

In this activity, we ask for your help in counting the seals using satellite images. Scientists need all the help they can in creating an accurate count. We hope you will take the time to join our team and help do the counting as the images come in several times every season.