MSI Public Lecture Series

The Bird Island Research Station in the South Georgia Islands is supported and operated by the British Antarctic Survey.  This relatively small island (three miles long by a half mile wide), has a high concentration and rich diversity of wildlife, which makes it an ideal location for studying seals and seabirds.

Kiersten Madden and a team of American researchers spent part of 2006 on Bird Island to test the next generation of high-tech gear that these researchers have developed to study the behavior and ecology of Weddell seals in Antarctica.  The equipment includes video cameras and data loggers which they attached to male fur seals.  These video cameras were designed to record the environment immediately in front of the diving animal, while the data loggers collect information that allow the scientists  to reconstruct the animal's movements in three-dimensions and to gather information about the environment in which the animal hunts.  The goal of the work is to learn more about the hunting behavior of these fur seals.

In this presentation, Ms. Madden will introduce you to the sights and sounds of Bird Island as well as some other research and monitoring projects taking place on the island.  Ms. Madden is a graduate student at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute.

To learn more about Kiersten’s research go to:
http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/staff/fuiman/TeamFuiman/Kiersten.htm