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Oceanographers with flippers

Tagged seals plumb Southern Ocean’s depths

By Alexandra Witze

- More than 2 years ago

Seals diving for their dinner near Antarctica have surfaced with an extra morsel: information, gathered by electronic tags on the animals’ heads, about the shape of the seafloor there.

SPECIAL OPS SEAL Elephant seals with electronic tags glued to their heads transmit information tracking the depth of their dives, allowing oceanographers to better map the seafloor.