Need Antarctic data: Send in the seals by Paulina Neshybova

Scientists have been for a long time trying to gain the information from the freezeing ocean around Antarctica in winter. They could not do abything because of the floating sea ice and cold. However, finally the solution came. They decided to use the elephant seals, which can go the the areas under the ice as well as to the open sea, which a humand beiing could not eever do. By their help, the scientists will be able to get data from the Southern Ocean, as the climate is really sensitive to every change in the climate.
The researches are led by Jean-Benoit Charrassin of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. They even get the help form residents of this area. To 58 elephant seals they attached the electronic instruments which collect information as the seals dive more deeply than a men could do. Theses enviromental instruments collect data about pressuer, salinity, temperature and situation. They can even say what the actual animal is doing.
The result are really surprising. Researches get nine times more data and thirty times more information than before without their help. This said the scientists on their report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
These information helped the researches to map the properties of the water, mainly in the areas where the properties change more. They gained about 16,500 information about the water profiles and another beneath the sea.
This project had been funded by government and research agencies from the biggest countires in the world. And because of the big success, the scientists will try to use other sea animals as penguins, fur seals, or albatrosses.


related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080811/ap_on_sc/sci_seal_solution;_ylt=Am3pDzs_Bq57BSUz.KDY3mes0NUE

by Paulina Neshybova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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