14 days on Sable Island, 2014: day four

Today is the fourth day on the island. Gorgeous day here, sitting at around 10C, little wind and no rain or fog. Weather is suppose to change tomorrow however.

We have so far caught 5 grey seals, 3 females and 2 males. The plan is to catch 16 in total. Each seal receives a satellite transmitter to monitor movements and an acoustic transceiver to record the presence of tagged fish (more about that later), for the research group I work with, the Ocean Tracking Network.

So this fellow will go out to sea and feed, and we will be able to see where he goes and the species of fish that he interacts with. The satellite transmitter also records light, temperature and depth so seals are basically acting as oceanographic samplers, collecting data on the state of the ocean.