It’s one thing to watch a nature documentary about an animal. It’s another to watch footage taken by an animal.
A recent study did just that, capturing a treasure trove of unprecedented ocean footage with the help of sea lions fitted with cameras.
For the study, researchers used neoprene patches to glue “small and lightweight cameras” and tracking devices to the backs of eight adult female Australian sea lions. They returned with no shortage of material: The mammals captured nearly 90 hours of footage, including recordings of parts of the ocean that have never been mapped.
In addition to gathering cost-effective data about habitats and ecosystems in the waters of southern Australia, this research method put sea lions in the driver’s seat instead of humans.
“Traditionally, assessing the quality of different habitats and marine environments is done from an anthropocentric perspective,” the study’s lead author, Nathan Angelakis, told Science. “Whereas here, we’re using the sea lions as the tool to assess the marine environment, and they provide us information on the areas that are important to them.”
Want to see some of the footage?