During the past six years, over 600 hours of videotape documenting the under ice ecosystem and foraging events of Weddell seals have been recorded with corresponding 3-dimensional dive paths and metabolic measurements. This data set has enabled a team of researchers to identify the ecological role of different dive types of free-ranging seals and to examine the strategies used by the animals for cost efficient hunting while breathholding on a dive. In order to fully understand the underlying mechanisms that drive diving strategies and foraging decisions of Weddell seals, as well as other marine predators, there is a need to develop new approaches for presenting the diverse types of data (i.e. numerical, observational, digital) collected by multiple sensors placed on the animals. This proposal addresses the problem by exploring novel formats for visualizing complex data sets. By combining video game animation and virtual environment visualization technology, the scientists will create a software platform for incorporating standard spreadsheet data sets to simultaneously display physiological, behavioral, environmental, and movement patterns of Weddell seals diving beneath the Antarctic ice. Specific goals include developing a software tool that displays spreadsheet data as a 3-D animation, integrating behavioral data with the 3-dimensional movements of free ranging Weddell seals, creating a visual representation of the under ice ecosystem for McMurdo Sound, and testing the effectiveness of the display on students and marine mammal researchers. This study will be one of the first to integrate video game technology with scientific databases from wild animals, and as such is both novel and risky. The resulting program will allow investigators to move beyond the typical 2 - 3 parameter correlative presentations and to develop virtual environments for a wide variety of marine predators. It will also provide a unique teaching tool for students of Antarctic ecology and diving physiology. As such, the project benefits science, engineering, and education fields, provides a novel approach to the presentation of scientific data, and applies new expertise/perspectives (video game technology) to common scientific research problems characterized by too much data and too few options for critical analysis, synthesis and integration.
