Is She Part of the World’s Cutest Camera Crew?

    The ocean covers about 70 percent of our planet. Scientists and explorers have been studying it for centuries. And yet, much of it remains a mystery.

    On average, the ocean floor (or seabed) lies about 12,000 feet below the water’s surface. That makes it challenging to explore. The deeper you get, the more dangerous it is for humans. 

    But even at more shallow depths, exploring isn’t easy. Scientists often use tools called remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). These machines can explore seabeds and record videos or photos. However, using them can be costly. Rough winds and stormy waters can also make them hard to operate.

    Overall, only a quarter of the ocean floor has been mapped by scientists. It really makes you wonder: Could there be another way to learn about the ocean’s unknown?

    The ocean covers about 70 percent of our planet. Scientists and explorers have studied it for centuries. And yet, much of it is still a mystery.

    On average, the ocean floor (or seabed) lies about 12,000 feet below the water’s surface. That makes it hard to explore. The deeper you get, the more dangerous it is for humans.

    But even at more shallow depths, exploring isn’t easy. Scientists use tools called remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). These machines can explore seabeds and take videos or photos. But using them can be costly. Rough winds and stormy waters can also make them hard to operate.

    Overall, only a quarter of the ocean floor has been mapped by scientists. It makes you wonder: Could there be another way to learn about the ocean’s unknown?

    The ocean covers about 70 percent of our planet. Scientists and explorers have been studying it for centuries—and yet much of it remains a mystery.

    On average, the ocean floor (or seabed) lies about 12,000 feet below the water’s surface. That makes it challenging to explore. The deeper you get, the more dangerous it is for humans.

    But even at more shallow depths, exploring isn’t easy. Scientists often use machines called remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), which can explore seabeds and record videos or photos. However, using ROVs can be expensive, and rough winds and stormy waters can make them difficult to operate.

    Overall, only a quarter of the ocean floor has been mapped by scientists. It really makes you wonder: Could there be another way to investigate the ocean’s unknown?

    Enter Nathan Angelakis. He’s a scientist in Australia. In 2022, his team wanted to learn more about the seabeds off of Australia’s southern coast. And he’d come up with an interesting idea. Why not get local sea lions to help? 

    After all, the animals were excellent divers. And they were already familiar with the seabeds. That’s where they usually hunted for food. 

    Angelakis’s team chose eight healthy sea lions. They attached tiny cameras and GPS trackers on the sea lions’ backs. Within a couple of days, the animals had covered nearly 348 miles. They captured dozens of hours of video footage. Much of that footage showed areas that had never before been recorded by scientists. 

    The video footage may prove to be very important. Over the past 40 years, the Australian sea lion population has gone down. Currently, the animals are considered endangered, or at risk of dying out. 

    But now scientists know more about their habitat, or home. And they can use what they have learned to protect these creatures.

    In that way, the sea lions aren’t just helping the scientists. They’re helping themselves too. 

    Enter Nathan Angelakis. He’s a scientist in Australia. In 2022, his team wanted to learn more about the seabeds off of Australia’s southern coast. And he had an idea. Why not get local sea lions to help?

    The animals were good divers. And they knew their way around the seabeds. They hunted for food there.

    Angelakis’s team chose eight sea lions. They attached tiny cameras and GPS trackers to the sea lions’ backs. In a couple of days, the animals covered nearly 348 miles. They got dozens of hours of video footage. Much of that footage showed areas that had never before been recorded by scientists.

    The video footage may prove to be very useful. Over the past 40 years, the number of Australian sea lions has dropped. The animals are at risk of dying out.

    But now scientists know more about their home. And they can use what they’ve learned to protect these creatures.

    In that way, the sea lions aren’t just helping the scientists. They’re helping themselves too. 

    Enter Nathan Angelakis, a scientist in Australia. In 2022, his team wanted to learn more about the seabeds off of Australia’s southern coast. And he’d come up with an interesting idea: enlisting local sea lions to help.

    After all, the animals were excellent divers. And they were already familiar with the seabeds. That’s where they usually hunted for food.

    Angelakis’s team selected eight healthy sea lions and attached tiny cameras and GPS trackers to the sea lions’ backs. Within a couple of days, the animals had covered nearly 348 miles. They captured dozens of hours of video footage, much of which showed areas that had never before been recorded by scientists.

    The video footage may prove to be very important. The Australian sea lion population has declined over the past 40 years, and  the animals are currently considered endangered, or at risk of dying out.

    But now that scientists know more about their habitat, or home, they can use what they have learned to protect these creatures.

    In that way, the sea lions aren’t only helping the scientists—they’re also helping themselves.