Scientists have recruited unlikely helpers to map the ocean floor – sea lions!

Much of the ocean floor remains unexplored, so scientists are unsure what lies far beneath the waves. Current methods to investigate the seabed include underwater drones and cameras. However, these techniques can be expensive.

That’s one reason why researchers from Australia turned to sea lions. Researchers used glue to attach cameras and other equipment to eight sea lions. As the sea lions swam through the ocean, cameras recorded every moment.

Footage revealed a variety of previously unexplored underwater habitats, including sandy areas and underwater meadows. In total, researchers managed to model 5,000 square kilometers of seabed in just a few days. This new information gives scientists a better understanding of the underwater world and the plants and animals that live there.

Alaska, USA

Off the coast of Alaska, marine scientists are trying to better understand how humpback whales hunt. Humpback whales have previously been observed using bubbles to catch prey like fish and krill. They blow bubbles from their blowholes while swimming in circles.

bubble-net

This creates rings called bubble-nets, which confuse and trap prey, making them easier to catch. But it turns out their use of bubbles is even more clever than previously thought.

speed x3

Researchers used cameras attached to whales’ backs, along with drone footage from above, to investigate how humpback whales make these bubble-nets. They found that whales can control the size and shape of the bubble-nets, allowing them to catch seven times more prey than they would without a bubble-net.

The researchers suggest that bubble-nets should be classified as tools, similar to the sticks that chimps use to catch ants, or the rocks that sea otters use to crack open shellfish. This makes humpbacks one of a very small number of animal species known to use tools.

Iowa, USA

Mastodon bones have been uncovered in a creek bed in Iowa. Mastodons were large mammals that once roamed North America. They went extinct around 10,000 years ago, several thousand years after humans arrived on the continent.

The bones were uncovered after a 12-day dig by archaeologists from the University of Iowa.

So we’re looking at the face of the animal. [The] trunk would’ve come out of there.

The archaeologists worked out that the specimen is about 13,600 years old. It is the first well-preserved mastodon skull found in Iowa. The skull is currently being prepared so it can be displayed at a local museum.

We need to stabilize it and conserve it. So that’s gonna take quite a bit of effort to get it all cleaned up and display case-ready.

The archaeologists now hope to make more discoveries in the area to better understand North America’s distant past.

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