Sedating a one-tonne elephant seal in Antarctica in no easy feat but the vital information the seals are providing about the Southern Ocean makes it worth it
One question I’m asked a lot about my job is: how do you “vet” a one-tonne elephant seal? Well firstly, it makes the 300kg seals seem really titchy and easy. But why, you ask? Why have I travelled to Antarctica to immobilise elephant seals that can weigh from 250kg up to 1,000kg and more? My immediate answer is: who wouldn’t do that if they had the chance, so I guess that’s a bit telling.
I’m in awe of the extremes of the Antarctic and I love being a vet, but that’s not all. The work itself is part of cutting-edge climate science as well as a chance for us to understand how one of the ocean’s top predators interacts with its environment.
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Source: Guardian Climate Change