How Antarctica’s Cutest Baby Seals Grow Up I Antarctic Extremes

Penguin lovers, take note: Baby Weddell seals might actually be cutest animals in all of Antarctica (and we’re talking a continent the size of the United States and Mexico combined).
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Inhabiting the Ross Sea—as far south as McMurdo Sound—Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) have the most southerly distribution of any mammal on Earth. Scientists began studying a breeding population of Weddell seals in 1968 and quickly found out these pinnipeds don’t always have it easy. Giving birth and raising young is particularly challenging in Antarctica’s extreme conditions, forcing Weddell moms and pups to bear sub-zero temperatures and prevailing winds. How do they manage to do it so gracefully? (OK: they’re admittedly way more graceful in the water than on land.) To find out, NOVA hosts Caitlin and Arlo travel to an Antarctic Weddell seal colony during pupping season. Once there, they meet with seal biologist Jay Rotella—and the downright adorable newborn seals he studies.

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Hosted by Caitlin Saks and Arlo Pérez
Editor/Digital Associate Producer: Arlo Pérez
Producer: Caitlin Saks
Field Director/Cinematographer: Zachary Fink
Executive Producer: Julia Cort
Coordinating Producer: Elizabeth Benjes
Project Director: Pamela Rosenstein
Post Production: Jay Colamaria
Production Assistance: Matthew Buckley, Emily Pattison, Sean Cuddihy
Audio Mix: Heart Punch Studio
Director of Audience Development: Dante Graves
Senior Digital Producer: Ari Daniel
Audience Engagement Editor: Sukee Bennett
Outreach Manager: Gina Varamo

Special thanks to the United States Antarctic Program
Additional Footage: Alasdair Turner, Jay Rotella, Jean Pennycook, Jesse DeVoe, Mary Lynn Price, McMurdo Oceanographic Observatory, Paul Cziko, Robert Robbins, Steven Rupp
Music: APM, Axletree/Free Music Archive

National corporate funding for NOVA is provided by Draper. Major funding for NOVA is provided by the David H. Koch Fund for Science, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS viewers. Additional funding is provided by the NOVA Science Trust.

Major funding for this project is provided by the National Science Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, the George D. Smith Fund, and the Richard Saltonstall Charitable Foundation.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1713552. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Footage of seals was obtained under the authority of NMFS MMPA permit nos.1032-1917, 17236, & 21158

© WGBH Educational Foundation 2020