Rochelle Constantine and Regina Eisert - Whale watch

Drs Rochelle Constantine and Regina Eisert have both recently returned from expeditions to the new Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area. Dr Constantine, an associate professor in biological sciences at the University of Auckland, studied the distribution of baleen whales throughout the northern Ross Sea on an MBIE-funded voyage on the research vessel Tangaroa. Some 68 groups of whales were spotted during almost 500 hours of dedicated watches in Antarctic waters. Dr Eisert, a marine mammal expert at the University of Canterbury, conducts research on the Antarctic Type-C killer whale, a toothfish predator and one of the focal species for the MPA. Starting from Scott Base, Dr Eisert studies whales by helicopter and from the sea ice, allowing her to get very close to them. This season, Dr Eisert and her team trialed new multimedia whale traps and were able to capture rare underwater footage of killer and minke whales. Dr Eisert will show video footage of her encounters with whales in Antarctica at a free public event on April 5, details here.