CANBERRAgamefisandbox, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have fitted sea lions with cameras to map deep-sea habitats.
In a study published on Wednesdaygamefisandbox, a team from the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) revealed that they identified six habitats covering the seabed off Australia's south coast by equipping sea lions with small cameras.
To overcome the cost and condition challenges of seabed exploration, the researchers fitted eight adult female sea lions from colonies in South Australia with lightweight cameras and tracking instruments.
From 89 total hours of footage captured by the sea lions, the researchers identified six habitats in the benthic zone - the ecological zone at the lowest level of a body of water - including reefs and meadows.
They then used machine learning models incorporating 21 years of observation and measurements to predict habitat areas across 5,000 square kilometers (km) of the continental shelf of southern Australia.
"Using animal-borne video and movement data from a benthic predator is a really effective way of mapping diverse benthic habitats across large areas of the seabed," Nathan Angelakis, first author of the research, said in a media release.
"This allowed us to model benthic habitats across more than 5,000 square km of the continental shelf."
According to the researchers, the data could help provide critical information for the protection of endangered species and surveillance of marine species.■