Scientists are diving deep off the coast of Antarctica to help protect whale feeding areas.
But they're not jumping into the frigid Southern Ocean themselves. Instead, a team of researchers has attached non-invasive sensors and cameras to the backs of humpback and minke whales.
The project, supported by World Wildlife Fund's Australia office, has gathered a bounty of information so far, including when, where, and how whales eat krill; what their social lives are like; and how they're able to blow through sea ice so they can breathe.
Whales in the Southern Ocean face two main threats to their food supply: overfishing of krill, and climate change. Warming ocean temperatures are causing ice to shrink, which is altering Antarctic ecosystems.
In the whale study, each whale wears the suction-cup cameras for between 24 and 48 hours at a time. Scientists then retrieve the "whale cams" and apply them to other whales.
"We have been able to show that whales spend a great deal of time during the days socializing and resting, and then feeding largely throughout the evening and night time," said Ari Friedlander, lead scientist on the whale study and an associate professor from Oregon State University.
"Whales are aggregating in a number of bays -- including Wilhelmina Bay, Cierva Cove, Fournier Bay, Errera Channel -- in high numbers and are feeding there for weeks at a time," he said in a news release. "Every time we deploy a tag or collect a sample, we learn something new about whales in the Antarctic."
