In the couplet of your life , you ’ve credibly had a dreaming where you ’re flying . But have you ever dream about swim underwater ? Off the coast of Australia ? And you ’re also a sea Leo the Lion ? Just me ?
Well , it feels quite like a wing dream , only now you do n’t have to woolgather to experience it . A squad of researchers used “ sea lion - borne video ” to map out out the endangered species ’ habitat off the slide of south Australia . Their research ( and footage ) ispublishedtoday inFrontiers of Marine Science .
In the television and images captured from the backs of the sea lions ( Neophoca cinerea ) , the viewer is treated to six habit between 16.33 infantry ( 5 meters ) and 361 feet ( 110 metre ) off the Australian coast . The habits are as keep up : macroalgae reef , macroalgae meadow , unembellished George Sand , sponge / backbone , invertebrate Witwatersrand , and invertebrate bowlder home ground . These habitat range from submerged timberland of algae and barren sandy floors to complex communities on reefs and boulders , teeming with various nautical life .
A still from the back of an Australian sea lion swimming underwater.Image: Angelakis et al. 2024.
“ Using animal - borne telecasting and movement data from a benthic predator is a really in effect way of represent diverse benthic habitat across big areas of the sea bottom , ” said study lead author Nathan Angelakis , a researcher at The University of Adelaide and the South Australian Research and Development Institute , in a Frontiersrelease . “ These data are useful both for mathematical function decisive home ground for an peril mintage such as the Australian ocean lion , and more generally , for mathematical function unexplored areas of the seabed . ” benthal home ground refer to “ anything associated with or pass on the bottom of a body of water,”accordingto the National Ocean Service .
The enquiry team used approximately 89 hours of footage to model the habitats on the continental shelf of South Australia near Kangaroo Island . The models predicted bombastic habitat areas in the region off the coast . The model were also feed oceanographic information from 21 geezerhood of observations and mensuration taken by dissimilar squad , giving a fuller picture of the environments off the sea-coast .
Strapping photographic camera to maritime mammals is not a new theme , but the late research demonstrates how it can be used with conservation in mind . In 2022 , a squad of researchers useddolphins affiliated with the U.S. Navy(yes , you register that right ) to enchant video footage off the coast of California .
The late team also strapped orbiter - linked Global Positioning System loggers to the ocean lions , allow the research worker to track the animals ’ position in real clock time . A similar course of action was take by a team of researcher thatinvestigated elephant sealskin rest patternsin 2023 ; record the position and speeds of the creature let investigator to track them even when they are abstruse in the ocean .
Australian sea Leo the Lion populations have declined by more than 60 % over the last four decades , according to a 2021 newspaper . The new picture from the animals ’ backs thus dish out two purposes : giving research worker young information on the leatherneck environs off the coasts , but also map the habitats used by the species so that they might be conserved .
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